Designer Tarun Tahiliani will unveil his modern Indian haute couture collection Tarakini at the Conrad on 27 April. Ahead of the show, Gafencu spoke exclusively with him to gain some insights into the inspirations behind his beautiful creations and his personal evolution as a designer.

When did you find your passion for design, and how has your journey led you to create Tarun Tahiliani Design?

I have sketched fashion since I was six or seven, so design has always been my passion. I studied business at Wharton, then received an associate degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, before returning to India over two decades ago. My first challenge was to change Indian preconceptions. Indians love colour and wanted mostly shocking colours. For me that was too ‘costume’, I preferred simple but elegant tailoring. So I astutely took the best of both East and West and came up with something unique…

In 1987, I opened the multi brand shop Ensemble, which kicked off the whole idea of home-grown Indian couture. Thereafter, I founded Tarun Tahiliani Design studio in 1995. Since then my signature has evolved as a fusion of textile detail, refined luxury, and meticulous tailoring with innovative modern construct and fit.

How would you describe your design ethos?

I live by the mantra – India Modern. I grew up in Bombay, in a post-colonial, socialist India, where our traditional crafts were badly neglected. Thankfully, over time, people awakened to India’s truly great heritage and came to realise that contemporary design could give India’s rich traditions a new voice.

Fashion, for me stands for that ethos. As a brand, Tarun Tahiliani embraces the present while preserving India’s heritage of draped form and tradition of artistry. Each creation exemplifying the guiding philosophy – “all that we were and more.”

What is your proudest achievement, and why?

I do not want to sit on my achievements. Achievements are milestones of the past and that’s really over. I work more and more for the love of doing something rather than “what it might achieve for me”. I am constantly plagued by the next step. How do I reinvent myself? How do I change the design aesthetic to stay rooted to its culture yet be modern and wearable.

Can you tell us a bit about your Tarakini collection? How have you departed from more traditional design concepts here?

Tarakini, our Spring Summer 2018 collection came about because I was tired of seeing women weighed down by overtly heavy clothes. We worked to deliver top-grade fit and fashion flair without skimping on comfort, and, like you would look at the universe and the stars, in the lightness as they are floating, that’s where the origins of the name ‘Tarakini’ came in.

The collection juxtaposes astronomy motifs with Mughal-inspired floral and jewel themes, fusing the very best of India’s rich heritage of embroidery, latticework and hand-painted detailing with digital textile printing.

Your designs will be showing in Hong Kong on 27 April. What message/impression do you hope to impart?

It feels fantastic to take Indian fashion global. At the moment, everyone is into the wedding market because it’s a comfort zone; it’s where people spend maximum money. With Tarakini, the audience can an exhibition of our unique principles of fit, finish and proportion, and that are a distillation of our design sensibility.

Tarun Tahiliani’s Spring Summer 2018 collection Tarakini debut:
Date:  Friday, 27 April
Time: 11am – 7pm
Venue: Bowen Room @ Conrad Hotel, Pacific Place, Admiralty

This event is co-hosted by Melange Singapore, a Singapore-based fashion platform that promotes South Asian fashion via private trunk shows, fashions shows and immersive events. For more information on Melange and Tarun show please email on singapore.melange@gmail.com or visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/2473894716168324