by editor-in-chief
New Delhi
Sanchita was born in Mumbai and moved to Europe at the age of three. Educated in Vienna and the UK, she studied art in Paris and earned her Fashion degree at the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture Parisienne. She specialised in fashion and industry at the Domus Academy, Milan, obtaining a Master’s Degree in Fashion and Technology. Having travelled and lived in Europe most of her life she speaks and writes also German, Italian and French, as well as colloquial Indian languages.
She returned to Italy to work with Romeo Gigli in the early 1990s, designing Callaghan then produced by Zamasport in Novara, and later collaborated with Moschino in Milan and with Tom Ford at Gucci in Florence and London. She has worked along side Lee Mc Queen for more than 10 years. She has exhibited her “applied art” embellished works with artist Arianna Caroli in Rome and Chicago and with the late John Drake Moore in Venice and Delhi. In 2007, she worked on ‘Sanchita for Villa Moda’ with Villa Moda Kuwait and Dubai. In collaboration with Sheikh Majed Al Sabah, Jeff Koons, and Damien Hirst she worked on the project “sanchita for I love souk” for the Al Sabha Art and Design Gallery.
A few years ago, Sanchita saw the potential and opportunities for an Indian fashion brand with western influences and decided to return to India, choosing the city of Bangalore as her base. In partnership with her brother, she founded Sanfab Pvt. Ltd, the holding company of the sanchita brand, one of the first fashion companies in India to develop a European business model and technology-driven infrastructure. Anthropologie, Lane Crawford, Hong Kong, Evoluzione, Collage are some of the retail store that stock Sanchita. She is currently the Creative Director of the sanchita men’s, women’s and accessories collections and a creative consultant for Lanvin, Etro, Marni and other European luxury brands which are produced by sanfab.
Sanchita does her own research and development and has travelled the globe to study its ancient arts and crafts, especially India, where she learned about spinning, weaving, dyeing, finishing techniques, and wooden-frame embroidery. In addition, she is a specialist in textiles and applied materials, which she also designs and patents.
Sanchita Fables Book and the Fables collection was launched in 2010 and the Fables Cool Kids collection for Lane Crawford, Hong Kong in 2012. In 2012, a collaboration with Swarovski saw her exhibit sanchita leather accessories studded with Swarovski elements at the India International Leather Fair in Chennai. She was appointed the Chair Person for the Indo Italian Chambers of Commerce and Industries South Region in 2012.
The cultural experiences and influences of different places and peoples have left an indelible imprint on the designer’s creative spirit, infusing her designs with an innovative and eclectic favor. Stereotypical boundaries are broken down to focus on body shape, motion and functional ease in a mix of avant-garde forms and modular pieces that pay tribute to the femininity and grace, vulnerability and valour, dreams and desires of the modern woman.
Sanchita Ajjampur Collection:
Womenswear collection- Fall/Winter 13
An imaginary New World inspired by the Panchatantra Tales, where bejewelled monkeys, exotic flora and fauna are painted in a fantastic colour palette to accentuate the surrealistic quality of the collection.
Unconventional hand-painted florals from Indian mythology create a refined femininity, while the contrast of strong crystal edges adds a new three dimensionality to the luxe printed duchesse, satins and gossamer fabrics.
Tapered silhouettes offer the ultimate in luxury and curiosity, effortlessly blurring the line between day and evening
Menswear collection-Fall/Winter 13
Sleek male grooming with a cultural and historical twist.
Camouflage prints in aviator and metallic shades imbue unexpected fabrics with a militant sensibility, subverting the traditional print through embellishment that mixes Indian military, mythology and textures to create the ultimate urban warrior.
