Meet Sahil Kochhar, the man who designed the runway look for iconic track athlete Carl Lewis

About two and a half months ago, when couturier Sahil Kochhar chanced upon the opportunity to create a runway outfit for legendary track athlete Carl Lewis, he could not resist the temptation to go all out. Perhaps that explains the sculptural grandeur that Carl sported as a showstopper for the 20-year celebration of the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon this weekend at Le Méridien, New Delhi.

Sahil likes to call this creation The Halo of Endurance.

The all-black suit, compete with a fitted coat and a pair of trousers, stands embellished with golden-hued accents on the front of the shoulders that extends to the upper back with a harness that holds the protruding, beaded golden wires. 
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Special arrangement

The all-black suit, compete with a fitted coat and a pair of trousers, stands embellished with golden-hued accents on the front of the shoulders that extends to the upper back with a harness that holds the protruding, beaded golden wires. The black base evokes the asphalt stretch where every runner begins — a metaphor for doubt, discipline, and the darkness that must be crossed. Across it, molten veins of brass surge like light through shadow: a material chosen for its humility and its radiance under trial. “It was like it took us a month to make this outfit. Considering that he is the athlete of the century and he has 10 Olympic medals out of his nine are gold, the outfit had to be grand,” says Sahil. T

alking about the inspiration that guided the design, Sahil points at the sudarshan chakra. “As a brand, we always promote the arts and crafts from our country. So, the fabric used for this creation is matka silk, sourced from Bhagalpur and Banaras. For the pair of trousers, we used a blend of wool and viscose, which has been sourced from the UK,” he adds.

(Left) Carl with Sahil Kochhar
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Special arrangement

The creation stands as a manifesto of motion — a conversation between struggle and triumph, silence and applause, exhaustion and glory. The dialogue of black and gold mirrors the journey of every runner who has crossed Delhi’s streets for two decades in pursuit of purpose, shares Sahil. He explains that though the brand has been exploring appliqué for a long time, this is perhaps one of the first occasions on which the brand experimented with brass. “This time we went out, out of our comfort zone, and we did a lot of metal appliqué. Our love for metal started when back in the day I took one of our embroideries which is done on clothes and converted into a metal for a partition for a store; that’s when I realised that this space intrigued me. So, now was the time I wanted to do it the other way. I wanted to take that metal as inspiration that we created five years ago and interpret it on an outfit,” he informs.

The black base evokes the asphalt stretch where every runner begins — a metaphor for doubt, discipline, and the darkness that must be crossed. 
| Photo Credit:
Special arrangement

“This outfit is a sculptural ode to belief and becoming,” Kochhar adds. “It reflects a city that has learned to run not away from barriers, but through them. The Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon has given Delhi a new heartbeat — stronger, prouder, and more compassionate.”

The dialogue of black and gold mirrors the journey of every runner who has crossed Delhi’s streets for two decades in pursuit of purpose
| Photo Credit:
Special arrangement

With two outposts, one in Delhi and another in Hyderabad, Sahil is now looking to open another store in Mumbai Kala Ghoda. His outfits are designed and manufactured in Nodia where he has a manufacturing unit and designing studio. He recently launched his festive edit called Iktara and will adding more fall/winter designs to it in the coming time. However, basking in the glory of his sartorial talent that has found a record-holding champion for a model, Sahil intends to extend his experiments with brass and creating more sculptural pieces and installations with the metal in time to come.