Chauhan gets eco mention

Before enrolling himself in NIFT for a postgraduate program in 2002, Samant Chauhan was a

relatively unknown face in the fashion world. Subsequently the designer made headlines for making non-violent silk a way of life. The silk used for his collections is hand woven and made from an eco-friendly process without the use of dyes. After having shown his environment friendly designs on ramps around India, now his eco-chic line has got global mention. US-based Sass Brown, a professor at Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, in her new book “Eco Fashion” talks about Chauhan’s work and has featured him as one of the leading designers who promotes eco friendly clothes.

The designer met her during the London fashion Week, couple of years back and was amazed by her understanding of the whole process of preparing eco-friendly garments. The book featured his ‘Silk Route Collection’ made out of 100 per cent raw Bhagalpur silk. In fact, he hails from the land of traditional silk weavers (Bhagalpur, Bihar). His shows are high on theme and theatrics. His vision is to design luxury prêt while creating a brand identity for Bhagulpuri hand-woven silk. The waste generated when harvesting and processing cocoons presented an opportunity for him to develop silk with a coarser weave which he then used to create panels on men’s jackets. The waste at the fabric cutting stage evolved into textured layers of appliqué. His embroidery is created out of recycled wastes.