His line is almost therapeutic with the world overdosing on zardosi and dabka, to give brides a much-needed relief with a light shower of Swarovskis.
By Asmita Aggarwal
There is a vast difference between Jeff Goldblum (remember Jurassic Park), the current fashion favourite known for his absurd choices (the crazy Prada shirt he wore) and disregard for any fashion rule and Tarun Tahiliani. The former is careless which somehow makes him endearing and irreverent, while Tarun is carefully constructed and each silhouette is thought over as an earnest attempt to capture what women want almost in Mel Gibsons, mind-reading style.
This year brides and bridesmaid have shed their need for larger-than-life offerings, with such a complex life, silhouettes are getting airy. And Tarun, who opened the ICW 2018 with Ethereal Lightness of Being, did it in his characteristic ornate renditions with his old friends like Malini Ramani, now a rare bird in attendance. Not only did he play the bridesmaid by holding the Hyderabadi beauty Aditi Rao Hydaris trail behind her frothy salmon pink lehenga, but also wooed his audience with the wafting sweet aroma of tuberoses that made the roof of the runway with arches resembling a Mughal magnificence.
And where there is Tarun there is bound to be stardust, and of course gold, this time beaten down to give it a dull sheen. I had recently gone for a wedding where I noticed the bride badly bruised and bleeding due to the heavy lehenga she was wearing and it got me thinking. Thats why this collection is deliberately made agile and buoyant offering ease and comfort on your W-Day, he explains.
Pleated kurtas and black and white lehengas, two contrasting hues that were banished from the lexicon of bridal vocabulary now found a place of pride on the runway. Hair was softer and so as the make-up and the only theatrics was with the accessories, bright, tasselled, fringed and clutch-y. Reds and maroons have made way for coffee as translucent is where the game is whether Tarun did shararas, dhotis or long kurtas worn with tiered lehengas. We have used shimmer as I work with Swarovski, but the smallest crystals, which we never sew but solder on the ensemble, he explains.
The highlight was the weight was lifted off lehengas and even though the bare shoulders and capes with feathers and flowers were omnipresent, Tarun kept his signature draping alive in the natty blouses. It was undoubtedly, the girl from Nagaland Ketholeno Kense, who really worked the ruffled, double-shaded, mermaid gowns in her favour as they emerged, in a battalion, armed with stone encrusted belts to cinch the waists.
Would we say that the era of reds is now a matter of yore and we are rewriting the history books of Indian fashion as it moves ahead in a different direction? Probably, even though Tarun didnt want to distress those who still prefer the scarlets and vermilions with a discreet offering complete with maang-tikkas and haath phools!