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On Tarana, translating nature through craft, and creating clothes with a life beyond the season.
A NIFT graduate, Sahil Kochhar has spent over a decade building his couture label, with craft, textile development and intricate surface work at its core. Nature has remained a recurring reference throughout his work, often explored through embroidery, texture and contemporary interpretations of Indian dress.
With his latest collection, Tarana, Sahil explores that relationship through rhythm and movement, bringing organic forms into dialogue with geometric structure. In this interview, he speaks about the making of the collection, reimagining traditional craft for today, and why longevity, memory and emotional ownership are becoming increasingly important to luxury.
Fueled By Fashion- The idea of a tarana is closely connected to music and to a kind of expression that exists beyond words. You’ve described the collection in terms of rhythm, repetition and movement. How did that musical idea find its way into the clothes, and what did it allow you to explore differently this time?
Sahil Kochhar - Tarana began with rhythm. I was drawn to the idea of a tarana as something that exists before language, where sound, instinct and movement come together naturally. That became the emotional starting point for the collection and led me towards the rhythms I see in nature, the unfurling of a flower, the movement of a vine, and the repetition of organic forms.
From there, the collection developed around the relationship between the organic and the ordered. Florals became almost architectural, growing through the garments, while arches, scallops and linear structures brought a sense of rhythm and structure. The final visual language of Tarana is rooted in movement, balance and the constant dialogue between nature and design.
Fueled By Fashion - Nature has been a recurring presence in your work for years, from flowers and tropical landscapes to more abstract ideas of growth and transformation. What is it about bringing nature into your collections that continues to interest you, and how did you interpret it differently in Tarana?
Sahil Kochhar - I have always been interested in the way nature creates its own visual language. With Tarana, I looked closely at how things grow, repeat, unfurl and find their own balance.
Flowers, vines and foliage became living architecture across the garments, while geometric arches and linear structures introduced a sense of rhythm and order. So while nature continues to be an important part of my visual vocabulary, Tarana explores it through the ideas of rhythm and movement—the instinctive beauty of nature meeting the precision of design.
Fueled By Fashion - When you’re developing a collection, how much of it is planned from the beginning and how much emerges along the way? Do the materials and techniques ever take you somewhere you weren’t expecting?
Sahil Kochhar - Tarana gave us an opportunity to explore the surface as a living element of the garment. We worked extensively with hand embroidery, appliqué, beadwork, sequins and layered textures, experimenting with scale, depth and movement. We also incorporated atelier remnants into the appliqué work, giving existing materials a new life within the collection.
The process reinforced my belief in the power of restraint and intention. I enjoy creating surfaces that have depth and complexity while allowing the garment itself to breathe. That balance has become an important part of my design vocabulary.
Fueled By Fashion - You’ve used appliqué and embroidery in Tarana to create these intricate, almost sculptural surfaces. How do you work with these traditional techniques while giving them a contemporary feel, without losing what makes them special in the first place?
Sahil Kochhar - For me, tradition is a living language. Its beauty lies in its ability to evolve while retaining the skill, thought and human connection at its core.
With Tarana, I wanted to bring traditional craftsmanship into a contemporary wardrobe through modern proportions, fluid drapes and sculptural silhouettes. The floral vocabulary draws from something deeply familiar, while the way it is translated through embroidery, appliqué and layered surfaces gives it a fresh expression.
The human hand remains central to the collection. The patience, precision and artistry behind every surface are what give the garments their character and allow the craft to remain timeless.
Fueled By Fashion - There’s a certain ease to the way the pieces in Tarana can be worn, even with all the detail that goes into them. Is versatility something you’re consciously thinking about when you design, or is it simply a natural part of how your clothes have evolved?
Sahil Kochhar - I believe craftsmanship becomes contemporary through the way we experience it. For me, the most exciting part of working with heritage is giving it a new context. A traditional technique, a floral form, a textile or a familiar drape can take on an entirely different character when it is considered through contemporary proportions and construction.
Tarana brings this approach to life through draped saris, elongated kurtas, sculptural peplums and cropped separates, all layered with intricate craftsmanship. The result is clothing that carries the richness of Indian craft while feeling effortless and relevant to the way a woman dresses today.
Fueled By Fashion - The way people discover, buy and wear fashion has changed enormously in the last few years. What do you think today’s consumer is looking for that they weren’t looking for when you first started your label?
Sahil Kochhar - I see luxury becoming increasingly connected to emotional ownership and meaningful design. A garment becomes truly special when it develops a life beyond the season in which it was created. It becomes part of a woman’s memories, her experiences and eventually her personal archive.
That is why longevity is such an important part of our approach. The garments are designed to be kept, worn again and eventually passed down. There is something incredibly powerful about owning a piece that carries a story. When craftsmanship, emotion and memory come together, fashion becomes something much more enduring.
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