Samant Chauhan

Eponymous fashion label Samant Chauhan works with Bhagalpuri silk, cotton and Ahimsa silk to create beautiful draped ensembles enhanced with fine hand embroidery. The New Delhi-based fashion designer continues to embrace the future with complete respect for heritage textile craft and slow fashion. 

Post- graduating with a diploma in fashion design from the National Institute of Fashion Technology Delhi in 2004- Indian fashion designer Samant Chauhan's proudest moment was winning the award for Most Innovative Fabric Development and Best Design Collection for his graduating show. 

The following year marked Samant Chauhan’s International debut at Singapore Fashion Week for the Asian Young Designer Contest where he presented his prize winning collection "Changing patterns of Buddhism along the Silk Route". Chauhan's shows are high on theme and theatricality. His vision is to design luxury prêt whilst creating a brand identity for Bhagulpuri hand-woven silk got him rave reviews from fashion journalists including Collin McDowell and subsequently it was also a part of India’s promotion in TSUM Moscow.

The waste generated when harvesting and processing cocoons presented an opportunity for him to develop silk with a coarser weave that he then used to create panels on men's jackets and the waste at the fabric cutting stage evolved into textured layers of appliqué. Subsequently the Indian fashion designer made headlines for making 'non-violent silk' a way of life. “Silkworms are killed while producing silk. I want to condemn such an inhumane practice. The silk used for my collections have been hand woven and made from an eco-friendly process without the use of any dyes” he explains to Explosive Fashion. 

In 2006 Samant Chauhan’s debut at India Fashion Week received encouragement from some of the biggest names in the fashion fraternity. Also he became one of the finalists for WOW, New Zealand from India. This encouraged Samant to launch an eco-friendly line with US based company Moksha For Earth the same year.

2007 was a milestone year. When Samant presented his first ramp show "Kamasutra" at India Fashion Week he received an overwhelming response. Subsequently he participated in Esthetica at London Fashion Week SS08. Since- he showcased at London Fashion Week for six consecutive seasons. Usha's Sewing School approached Samant Chauhan to understand his perception of local textile crafts to contribute towards a Training Programme Book for their students.

2008 began for Samant Chauhan with an award for Best Designer Gallery at TexStyles’08. The Wall Street Journal featured him on the cover for bringing Indian traditional textile crafts into the limelight. Continuing his commitment to ethical fashion Chauhan showcased hand-woven and knitted raw silk, linen and cotton linen blends made using eco-friendly dyes and processes at Ethical Fashion 2008- Paris. 

The following year he showcased The Silk Worm at London Fashion Week and won Young Fashion Entrepreneur Award organized by British Council for generating employment in rural India. Through this he closely worked with the Centre of Sustainable Fashion in the London College of Fashion as a part of shared India talent. He also won CNBC TV 18 Young Turk Award for placing his hometown on the global map.

In 2010 Samant was finalist from India for Japan Grand Prix in Tokyo and was featured by The Sunday Guardian. He was also invited to showcase his collection at an event organised for The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall and The Earl of Wessex in Jodhpur. Their Royal Highnesses interacted with select designers who were part of the British Council Young Creative Entrepreneur Award Programme and Prince Charles spent much of his time in understanding the Bhagalpur silk craft. During this period Samant also started an association with Anthropology U.S.A. with his exclusive collection of organic accessories.

In 2011 Samant Chauhan debuted at Colombo Fashion Week. What's more US-based Sass Brown- a professor at Fashion Institute of Technology New York- featured him as one of the leading designers alongside Salvatore Ferragamo, Vivienne Westwood and Yves Saint Laurent who promote eco-friendly clothing.

2012 was a landmark year. Samant Chauhan developed a line of Handloom Denim in association with DCI under the Cluster Development Scheme of the Ministry of Textiles. In the event, Silks of Bihar, the commemoration of 100 years of Bihar in New Delhi, along with presenting his ‘Silk Route’ Collection, he was also curator of the show. Determined to preserve indigenous textile craft Samant Chauhan started making documentaries on the clusters of Chanderi, Bhagalpur, Phullia and Varanasi focusing on its weavers’ lifestyle and diversity.

2017 began with participation in Who's Next Paris where ready-to-wear garments were showcased. The grand event of the year was marked as the Rail Memories Show at Rail Museum in Delhi where his childhood memories of travel were showcased. In April tussar silk garments were showcased at Textile India Show at Craft Museum in collaboration with the Ministry of Textile. Staying true to his commitment towards weavers he went to Bhagalpur from Ministry of Textile to help weavers towards new development and completed the project with a show at Ahmedabad by IMG and Ministry of Textile of India. the year also witnessed Samant Chauhan's prêt collection showcased in Moscow.

Till date Samant Chauhan is renowned for his conceptual collections structured in stylish wearable silhouettes and made using ancient indigenous textile crafts and sustainable processes. And what continues to wow buyers and consumers is the way his simple silhouettes offset intricately detailed zari and silk thread embroideries and surface texture.

Indian fashion designer Samant Chauhan joined the green movement in 2008 with a handcrafted collection using raw Bhagalpur silk, linen and cotton-linen blends. The yarns were made of silk waste that he hand-knitted. Today he has made 'non-violent silk'- an unheard of concept back then- a way of life in Indian fashion. “Silkworms are killed while producing silk. This can be done away with easily. I want to condemn such an inhumane practice. The silk used for my collections have been hand woven and made from an eco-friendly process without the use of any dyes" he told Vogue. 

Indian fashion designer Samant Chauhan embraces the future of fashion with complete respect for heritage textile craft and slow fashion. His dramatic silhouettes highlight fabric texture and artistic hand embroideries. Each look in his showings are majestic, some playing on the volume of the garment, others focusing on pattern consumption. In straight-up retail terms, it gives the designer impetus to push his creative exploration further next season.

Samant Chauhan is renowned for conceptual collections structured in stylish wearable silhouettes—and Autumn Winter 2017 was no exception!! Per Explosive Fashion: 'Crafted using Muga silk from Assam, hot-sellers include off-shoulder dresses with tie-up details; cocktail dresses with dramatic necklines; bandhgala anarkalis and sharply tailored men's suits… the durable nature of Muga silk, the ivory and desert palette and the vintage suitcases, backpacks and clutches with a hint of intricate embroideries is perfect for urban explorers and globetrotters alike. Wearable. Elegant. Subtly Luxurious.'

Samant Chauhan Autumn Winter 2018 at India Fashion Week worked on the axis of young luxury. Per Explosive Fashion: ‘The cotton silk tube gown enhanced with zari and glass embroideries was just the sort of thing debutantes would love to flaunt. As was the black, intricately embroidered evening gown and jacket. Romantic, with a hint of opulence. Every look was an object of desire from the sumptuous silk kurta with embellished collar and the black cotton-silk outerwear to the selection of floor-length gowns.’