From getting clothes tailored for her entire family for the never-ending calendar of events as a teenager in Banaras, to now retailing her collections across the country, designer Chhaya Mehrotra has been persistently pursuing her passion.
Hailing from one of the oldest textile printing families of Banaras, Chhaya was exposed to fabrics right from childhood. Besides visiting their factories with her parents, she would observe the vendors and buyers staying over at their house discuss the details of the business. “I grew up imbibing that information, so it was inevitable that I develop an interest in textiles,” says Chhaya who also keenly followed Indian and international fashion, much like how others her age followed cricket or football.
Her knowledge of the fabric and its business proved to be an advantage for the NIFT graduate who launched her label “Chhaya Mehrotra” in 2009. This was after a move from her hometown to Delhi saw her establish her fashion business from scratch. “I had just three people working for me initially. Now I have as many as 45 people working during the peak season,” she reveals. After showcasing her designs at exhibitions in Lucknow, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai, a membership to the Fashion Design Council of India in 2011 proved to be a complete game changer.
Subsequently, Chhaya debuted at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week in 2012. “I realised how different this is from what I was doing earlier. Showcasing at exhibitions, you have the chance to explain yourself and your work. But in a platform like WIFW, your designs do the talking before you.”
The influence of her hometown Banaras is evident in her designs. Her 2013 Autumn-Winter collection was an experimental take on Pashmina with flowy, fluid silhouettes, neat lines and minimal embellishment. She also had pure Pashmina sarees hand printed in Banaras with heritage blocks.
Her more colourful, fun Spring/Summer 2015 collection titled ‘Bubbly Banarasi’ was an experiment with fabrics and block printing both locally sourced in Banaras. Colour of sindoor, chandan, Shiva and moksha — red, yellow, blue and white, in fabrics like silk, cotton and noil are made into garments inspired by the way locals are dressed in the city along the Ganges, from a schoolgirl to a flower vender or a temple priest. This collection too infused handicraft techniques like block printing, weaving and wooden toy making.
If this wasn’t experimental enough, Chhaya is now trying to develop a new fabric for her upcoming collections. She is also in talks for collaborations to cater to the U.S., Europe, Singapore and Dubai markets.
