Less is more, but nothing is still nothing. Stylist Louw Kotze repurposes a Donatella Versace quote to describe Tarun Tahiliani, 60, a ‘maximalist’ who is “well researched and knows his own signature”. Tarun’s show at India Couture Week, which concluded on Wednesday, had the refined aesthetic and sculptured fits we now take for granted, but the intricately embroidered lehengas, saris, and jackets were also backed by strong craftsmanship, a fusion of chikankari and kasheedakari, and references to Byzantine art, Egyptian doors, and Persian motifs.
Also, when most of the 16 couturiers who showcased at ICW invested in what is now de rigueur, the Bollywood showstopper, Tarun chose to close his show with his core design team instead. With the going fee for these actors at over ₹50 lakh (up from approximately ₹10 lakh pre-pandemic), it seemed the eloquent couturier, along with other old-timers like Suneet Varma, JJ Valaya, and Rajesh Pratap, was making a statement about letting the clothes speak for themselves. That many of the showstoppers, from actors Sara Ali Khan to Disha Patani and Kiara Advani, had ironically been garbed in bralettes and thigh-high slit skirts on the runway, is another story altogether. It did lead to a rash of memes, one likening them to variations of Indian cottage cheese, and it did get media coverage.
