He is definitely one of the few who has been through quite a journey and every collection of his reflects the same. From the bylanes of Bhagalpur to Jamalpur in Bihar, to establishing his very own studio at Shahpur Jat in Delhi and then to expanding his enterprise in Mumbai, Samant Chauhan has proved himself at every single step. After being one of the four designers to open the Lotus Make-up India Fashion Week, he was under the spotlight yet again as he displayed his AW’19 collection Dream or Reality.
The collection
“The collection revolves around a woman who is chasing her dream,” says Chauhan. And just as dreams are, beautiful and layered, so is his collection. It beautifully compares one’s journey with that of the delicate nature of a flower, a newborn, and the changes that transform the journey of life into purpose, fulfilment, accomplishments, distortions, or disorientation. This depiction is shown through the detailed embroidery on the garments in jewel tones and colours.
What inspired him to work on the collection, you ask? Well, almost thirty years back Mira Nair made a film called Salaam Bombay, highlighting the hardships of the street children and taking the cause further, Chauhan took to the ramp to focus on the stark difference between dreams and reality. “While many contributed to the cause but the fact is that there are still so many children living in the same condition. That is how the idea to highlight the contrast between one’s dream and the reality came,” adds Chauhan. Thus, his collection dwells on the thin line of what a dream is, if a dream can be one’s reality or if everything is an illusion.
One of the most interesting topics that Chauhan found while working on the concept of what dreams look like, is the absence of colour. So, the colours he used in his collection have mostly been pastels. “Since we hardly remember any colour, I went ahead with subtle colours like shades of pink, orange, rust and burgundy and merged them, but on the whole, on the softer side.”
His dream
While Chauhan weaved the intricacies of one’s dream, he is on his own path to make his dream a reality. Most of his work has been about the place he belongs to, weaving his own story into it and taking his own idea forward. “I always tell my team that every single piece we work on should be something that could be passed on to the coming generations. So, one of my dreams is to create something that people will treasure because it is a ‘Samant Chauhan’ piece. A family treasure that can be passed on,” says he.
Sustainable fashion
The idea of a sustainable fashion has always been in our culture. Though in a different sense but haven’t we all worn a sweatshirt or a jacket passed down by our siblings? Chauhan too asserts that the idea of a sustainable fashion isn’t new to us but how as designers one contributes is different. Elaborating further, Chauhan says, “Till recently khadi wasn’t looked up as a luxury fabric but with various designers highlighting its handmade properties while introducing various new aspects to the fabric, today it is one of the most celebrated fabrics. Also, India is so rich in culture, almost every other designer is working on a handwoven fabric and taking a step forward making fashion more sustainable than it ever was.”