Muting colour in the most flamboyant traditional attire, he is driven to create wardrobes that celebrate the organic beauty of fabric. A strong believer in environment-friendly practices, Samant Chauhan, one of the leading fashion designers in India, has proved that achieving style with the pure fabric without colours is possible even in today’s fast-paced world.
Showcasing his collection from the brand ‘Rajputana’ at the recently-concluded 2nd Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Doha (MBFWD), Chauhan collected huge applause for his unique contemporary designs-created fabric, produced through traditional practices.
All his fabric is hand-weaved by artisans in his native Bihar, Northern India and his designs involve no artificial colours.
His brand is inspired from Rajputana, the old name of Rajasthan in India. Many artists would portray Rajasthan in terms of colours because it is known for colours. However, Chauhan’s collection does not use colour, save for perhaps, grey.
“All of my collections are off-white, brown, beige, so I am portraying Rajashtan without colours. That is my way of telling the story of Rajasthan. We have done a series of shows and this one is our 10th I believe,” Chauhan tells Community in an interview.
The Indian designer has already attracted potential customers for his clothes in Doha and says he is in talks with some local businesses to explore the possibility of opening an outlet here.
He started his story of Rajputana with the arrival of the British in India and how they influenced the region. The second series of his collection was about Rajaputana tribes and how this entire region was established. The third followed Rajputana ‘poshak’ (dress).
“A traditional Rajputana attire has 80 panels on it. It is all about the volume. We also did one show as part of the series about Rajputana bikers. Imagine all the Rajputana warriors going for a war on Enfield Vintage bikes,” says Chauhan.
“This season we created a story where we visualised that everybody is travelling on the Silk Route and they reach this Mongolian stretch where there is lot of heavy snowfall and harsh winter,” he adds.
Making his designs attractive without colour has been a challenge. As their brand philosophy, they do not encourage colour. He always thinks of fibre in its natural form and that is what he is doing, says Chauhan.
But looking at his collection you can still easily say that it is Rajasthani. Every season he introduces at least one technique which is representative of Rajasthan. In the recent collection showcased in Doha, if you look closely there is a ‘dori’ (thread) on it, which they (Rajasthanis) traditionally used.
Chauhan says he was born and brought up in Bihar, in North of India and everything in terms of fabric that you see in his collection comes from his village.
“I grew up surrounded by weavers in my village and they had this traditional craft. In the past 10 years as fashion designer, I have tried to re-introduce that craft and I am happy that people have started to acknowledge and recognise our efforts and that old traditional craft has made a comeback,” says the designer.
He studied fashion from an elite fashion school, National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in New Delhi, India. Within one week of joining NIFT, Chauhan had his first show. However, coming from a village straight into an elite college and society was a kind of ‘cultural shock’ for him.
But Chauhan adapted quickly. Initially, he could not communicate effectively due to the language barrier.
“I used to be a back-bencher. But then I told myself to focus only on what I was good at, and not to worry about what I was bad at. From day one, my work was very conceptual. So in the presentations, I did not need to speak about work. My work would speak for itself,” Chauhan recalls.
His interest in Rajasthani theme developed in 2009 and it was a time when he was really struggling. In India, it is all about colour, heavy embellishments, says the designer, adding that he was well aware of this fact yet he did not want to just succumb to it.
So he waited and kept on building his brand and gradually, it finally started happening for him. Today, it is a niche brand. Now, people want it. And if they want Samant Chauhan, it means they want white and not colour.
“I know that we can multiply our business by 10 the day I start colour and give in to the popular demand. But I believe in the soul of the fabric and its natural organic beauty. It is the DNA of our brand. I do not want to lose it,” says Chauhan.
“Natural organic materials in the purest form are my favourites to work with. Just prior to my show here, I had at least 10 to 15 meetings. There are people who want to open my store here, there are people who want to buy my stuff, there is a store-owner who wants to stock our stuff,” reveals the designer.
Chauhan says he believes in organic because he is from the generation which is actually seeing how the environment is changing. If it was not that visible before, it is much more visible now. And he believes the world needs to act now, or else all will be lost. People need to go back to more and more organic and hand-woven fabric and attire, he says.
He has showcased his collections outside of India in places like London and Paris. He started his career with the Singapore Fashion Week before he went to India Fashion Week. However, it was in 2009 that he realised he was heading the wrong direction with foreign shows.
‘It (foreign shows) was taking a lot expense, although my profile was going up at a supersonic speed, the business was not really good there. Instead, I diverted all my attention to this brand Rajputana and launched it in 2009,” says Chauhan.
“The day I had my first show at the India Fashion Week, all my struggles were over. Soon I started hiring people and put up one of the best teams. I have my own outlet in New Delhi and at the moment I am quite content with it. I do not want to increase,” he elaborates.  
Now that he has resources and an identity for his brand, Chauhan intends to do that core traditional stuff that he always wanted to do. Plans for an outlet in Doha in one of the upcoming shopping malls will, needless to say, give the organic wear a lift.