Alisha Chinai, Hindi poetry, lounge setting, and 30 years of drapes, kashida, and grandeur, TT tells us in an exclusive interview, he believes in embellishment not excess, style over trends, luxury that whispers at ICW 2025!
By Asmitaa Aggaarwal
You could see him personally supervising everything at the Oberoi, his football cap and mike on, “remove extra tulips, straighten the carpet, this doesn’t need to be here” as he geared up to open the luxe doors of the hotel for guests to celebrate 30 years in the business of fashion. Mogras in brass bowls, his sister Tina and wife Shalija for support, lounge setting with sofas and Banarasi brocade throws, model Sapna Kumar, a classic face in the industry for almost 25 years began the show.
“TT the brand is all me — and all of the world I see, read, experience, and love. Whether it is architecture, sculpture, temple visits, or a fascination with drapes and how fabric falls on the body — it reflects my eye. But it’s also bigger than me. The brand is a collaboration: between design, craft, history, emotion, and identity. I have always seen clothing as a canvas to bring together intellect, sensuality, and functionality in the context of India- the past and our current modern reality,” he adds, about a line titled “Quintessence”.
When you wear a TT you almost wear a bejewelled piece, no need for a diamond necklace, just gold zardozi saris with polkis as headbands are enough. He suggests shades of white, off white to butter coloured this season, light and frothy. “The greatest lesson has been to stay rooted while evolving. To honour our heritage, our crafts, our karigars — but to constantly reinterpret them for the times we live in. What has sustained us is not just design, but a deep commitment to precision, garment construction, and creating clothing that empowers the wearer with lightness, movement, and modernity. That has been our constant — evolution with integrity, says Tarun, as always dressed in black with his bundi and sneakers.
The backs of his lehengas and cholis, corset style blouses looked as if a diamond crystal necklace swung as models moved, tousled hair waves, accompanied embroidered saris—aari work, dabka to pearl encrusted pallus. The androgynous dhotis men wore with short sherwanis, can be interchangeable, TT ensures in-built glam. But his ode to kashida and Pichhwai interpreted in an ultra-modern manner was befitting. Fashion has an uneasy relationship with languages, especially Hindi poetry, it was certainly a charming touch with a 30-year-old Alisha Chinai Indi-pop song “Made in India” playing at the crescendo.
“Couture today is not just about spectacle — it’s about substance. We design with longevity in mind. For us, couture must move, breathe, and be re-worn. Whether it’s a corset paired with palazzos or a lehenga reimagined as separates, we encourage our brides to invest in pieces that they will cherish not just on their wedding day but long after — styled again, worn with joy. That, to me, is true luxury. However, it must make people dream, push techniques, and retain a sense of fantasy,” says Tarun.
India has always loved ornamentation and jewellery— from temple architecture to miniature paintings — but there is a difference between embellishment and excess. “I do not think we need to get over embellishment; we need to refine it. I believe in craftsmanship that enhances, not overwhelms. Embroidery should follow the line of the garment, not drown it. There’s immense power in restraint — that is the evolution we are committed to,” he adds.
Tarun believes fashion has changed through storytelling — not in a literal way, but through emotion, technique, and detail. His work often references miniature paintings, Mughal jaalis, and architectural motifs — but distilled in a way that speaks to today. “We often say our brides carry a bit of the past, making light for the present. That is the essence of India Modern. A modern bride does not want to be weighed down — she wants to float, she wants to move — and she wants to wear culture with pride, not burden. It is a visceral process, am not quite clear on how it meshes and fuses and emerges,” he explains.
Has Insta made fashion frivolous? “There are both sides. Yes, there’s noise — but there is also access. I’m old school — I believe in deep understanding, in training, in respecting craft,” he says. He acknowledges that social media has opened doors. Imagery is powerful to say the least and people can see our craft and aesthetic from across the world instantly. What’s important is to stay authentic — because trends fade. “Real style endures,” he asserts.
There is a growing controversy against Bollywood and showstoppers—”I’ve always said — I’m not against showstoppers; I’m against the idea that the show becomes only about them,” he adds. The real stars of couture are the craft, the clothes, and the karigars who bring them to life. That’s where the focus should be. Cinema and fashion have grown increasingly intertwined. Bollywood has an extraordinary reach, and when it aligns authentically with a brand’s philosophy, it can help amplify the message. But for us, the true showstoppers are — and will always be — the garments. “I’ve even had a bit of fun with the idea. One year, we draped a model entirely in fabric and pinned a sign on her that read ‘I am the showstopper.’ It was tongue-in-cheek, but it made the point. I don’t feel the need to do that anymore. The work speaks for itself,” he laughs.
He says he would like to change the idea that couture is only for a moment. “I would like people to see couture as something that can be cherished over a lifetime — not just a fleeting Instagram post or a one-day affair. It should be heirloom-worthy, yes — but it should also be alive, wearable, joyful. Couture must find its way back into wardrobes, not stay locked in trunks,” he says.
Each season he builds on the last. With Quintessence, for instance, he distilled his aesthetic to its purest form — restraint, precision, emotion. “There’s less noise, more craft. This collection was a continuation of the journey we began three decades ago, but stripped down to its soul— couture made lighter, more fluid. It’s luxury that whispers,” he adds.
To create something so pared back, he needed a certain quiet confidence — in ateliers, craftsmanship, and understanding of the world today. “It’s taken years of refining technique and thought to arrive at this kind of simplicity,” he concludes.