Samant Chauhan celebrates 20 years in fashion with Where My Home Is?
Marking two decades in fashion, Samant Chauhan sets out on a journey that is actually a quest to find his true home. Growing up in Bihar’s Bhagalpur district, Samant developed a close relationship with tussar silk and the region’s weaving traditions. His roots, however, lie in Rajasthan, a region whose history, culture and clothing traditions have continued to influence his work. His first collection, Rajputana Couture, explored these influences, and twenty years later, his collection, Where My Home Is?, brings together these different ideas of home, roots and migration.
The beautiful collection showcased at Lakme Fashion Week x FDCI looks at how textiles, craft and traditions have travelled across India for centuries, adapting to new geographies and influences while retaining something of where they began. Jaisalmer’s landscape finds echoes in the natural golds and antique golds running through the collection, with red representing the colour and clothing traditions of the wider region. The silhouettes come in Bhagalpuri weaves, particularly zari-rich tissues, used alongside tussar and a variety of other textiles.
Gold zari, dabka and silk thread lend richness to structured jackets and sculpted forms, alongside softer volumes, fluid gowns and layered eveningwear. The edit connects the two states, including ancestry, migration, memory, craft and culture. Samant tells us more.
How does looking back at your debut, Rajputana Couture, influence the vision of this milestone collection?
When I presented Rajputana Couture 20 years ago, it was my very first show and an exploration of my ancestral roots. Returning to it for Where My Home Is? is not about looking backwards or recreating what I did then. It is about returning to a beginning, but this time, carrying two decades of journeys, textiles, and experiences. The influence is much more subtle now. It appears in echoes rather than literal references. It has let me see the Rajputana region’s clothing traditions from a much more mature, contemporary perspective, bringing together everything I have learned about construction, material, and movement.
Over the last two decades, raw Bhagalpur silk has remained the heartbeat of your design identity. How has your relationship with this craft community evolved over 20 years?
I grew up in Bhagalpur, where my fundamental understanding of craft began. Over 20 years, my relationship with the weavers has deepened from simply sourcing fabrics to true, ongoing collaboration. We don’t just weave silk anymore; we engineer it. To push this into modern luxury, we take these raw, traditional handlooms and transform them into highly sculpted forms, architectural tailoring, and layered eveningwear. We are proving that non-violent, handwoven silk can easily meet the versatility, sophisticated construction, and fluidity expected in modern luxury occasion wear.
Having built a brand anchored in handloom and heritage long before ‘slow fashion’ became an industry buzzword, how do you see consumer appreciation for authentic, time-intensive craft changing in India over the years?
When I started 20 years ago, handloom was often viewed strictly through the lens of traditional wear or preservation. Today, consumers have developed a deep respect for provenance. They want to know who made their clothes, where the materials come from, and the history embedded in the weave. They understand that true luxury lies in the time, patience, and human touch required to create these fabrics. The appreciation has shifted from just consuming the final aesthetic to truly valuing the garment’s entire, time-intensive journey.
What is the biggest challenge and opportunity in scaling traditional textile craftsmanship without losing its intrinsic soul?
The biggest challenge is ensuring that as reach scales, the human element, specifically the weaver in Bhagalpur, is never rushed or compromised. You cannot mechanise authentic handloom. The opportunity, however, is exactly what this collection explores. Textiles and craft have always travelled. When traditional Indian craftsmanship encounters global silhouettes like structured jackets or fluid gowns, it finds a powerful contemporary expression. The soul remains intact because the foundation is still handwoven; it is simply adapting to speak a new, international language.