Hyderabad holds a special place for Samant Chauhan. The designer who stocks up at The Deccan Story in Jubilee Hills, calls the the city a best market, with well-educated clientèle. “My first buyer was from Hyderabad and it was also the first city I visited as a designer,” After Delhi and Mumbai, he wants to open a store here and then in Bengaluru.
He has recently launched a collection inspired by Mumbai; The city he first visited around 2006. Ever since, he has been a regular visitor, fascinated by the city that captured his imagination. On his recent visit, which stretched to five months, he remembered all his past experiences. “Coming from Bhagalpur and Delhi, it was a huge change seeing Mumbai — the experience was completely different. I know the city from what I have seen in movies and documentaries, but experiencing it was completely different.”
Fascinated with the architecture of south Bombay, his morning walks were spent admiring the buildings, arches and pillars. His trips to Dhobhi ghat and the red light area Kamathipura left a lasting impression. “ Everything is iconic in the city,” he shares, adding he pays tribute to the Maximum City in his new collection ‘do not allow me to forget you (Mumbai).’ Samant who is known for his love for off-whites, has chosen pastels for this one. “The collection was based on nostalgia so no one colour is prominent. I experimented with pastels,” he states and hopes to showcase a contemporary Mumbai in his next collection.
A storyteller at heart, he weaves a narrative in all his couture and pret lines in handwoven textiles mainly from Bhagalpur. “Every design has a story to tell,” he states adding he doesn’t follow any trend. “Every collection needs a story. It explains about us, the hard work and the process of making the collection.”
His first collection presented in Wills Lifestyle Fashion Week 2007 was inspired by Kamasutra. “One of my teachers did not allow me to work on Kamasutra theme when I was in college. When I got the opportunity, I was excited. ‘Nobody is going to stop me; let’s tell this story’, I thought.” Last year, his show was inspired by the railways and his nostalgic train journeys. He shares that little nuances and details related to the theme add character to the collections. “If a buyer wants to know about a motif or choosing long sleeves for a garment, the narratives connect the dots.”
Initial struggle
It took eight years for him to carve a niche in the designing world; but his struggles paid off. “Every journey begins with one step. Thanks to the hard work and struggle, we are able to hold on to the brand’s individuality. One can identify a Samant Chauhan’s design even from a distance. It was frustrating in the initial years but we are lucky that we survived,” he smiles.
The brand’s philosophy is to keep their storyline minimal and tonal colours subtle. In fact, some clients do not understand this subtlety and ask him to change the look. “I tell them this is what we want to sell. A lot of textures are not visible from a distance and can be seen only when you touch it and that is our speciality.”
Samant works with Bhagalpur weavers and feels the onus is to provide employment to them and improve their lives. “It is the right time for Indians to get crafts-friendly as more and more young designers work towards it,” he asserts.
In style
* Train memories’ is an A/W 2017 collection which inspires memories of our favourite railway journeys. From single coloured one-pieces to delicate designs combined with a dash of red to boldly embroidered motifs depicting wheat stalks, maize and flowers as imagined by the designer.
* The floor-length outfits, ranging from high collars to plunging necklines are paired with solid brown trunk boxes and ankle-length shoes.
* The line also upped the ‘it factor’ with Victorian sleeves, sarees with corsets to sharp-cut suits.
* The 2017 show, held off-site at the National Rail Museum, was an extension of Samant’s association with Golden Threads of Assam with whom he has collaborated to promote Muga, which is on the verge of extinction.
