Tarun Tahiliani’s Subtle Art of Subversion in India Couture Week

Tarun Tahiliani’s latest collection at the India Couture Week had subversion as the show-stopper.

“Isn’t he a master couturier!”

Leena Singh of ‘Ashima Leena’ exclaimed after Tarun Tahiliani’s show on the third day of India Couture Week 2017.

Yes, he is. However, what Tahiliani showcased last evening was not just his craft of designing beautiful clothes. This 85-garment collection is a case study in the subtle art of subversion. And it started at the level of the set design. Tahiliani recreated the wilderness of Kashmir with the ubiquitous chinar.

The carefully crafted weather-beaten feel of the set design, with an opulent fall of the chinar leaves, appeared to be a nudge to the troubled past and present of the state.

Before you could study the set design, the models made their entry on the meandering ramp. Lo and behold, the show opened with black outfits! A colour that is a pariah in the Hindu wedding palette. A colour that also reminds us of the black and white TV era: A thought reinforced by the bouffant hairdos of the 60s.

Dresses with asymmetrical silhouettes soon gave way to black sarees, lehengas and even churidar-kurta ensembles. And if you still didn’t get it, out came the men-in-black, bearded and capped.

Tahiliani did not design his clothes only for the Hindu brides and grooms. The cap, however, has since been wrongly identified as the “Gandhi topi” by many.

Perhaps it suits another narrative.

The Parsi florals and the Kashmiri Kashida were unequivocal in insisting upon the diversity of not just the Indian crafts but also the contexts and cultures they emerge out of. Although some of the black outfits appeared too loud, it was easy to appreciate the sensibility at work behind them. The embroidery neatly transitioned from the Islamic blacks to the Hindu reds, maroons and pinks.

Next came the whites. The churidar-kurta in this section experimented with lines and cuts and it worked. A different drape of saree, an air of lightness around the garments and a sensibility of doing the bling right made the whites stand out.

Tahiliani made a case for the diversity of the Indian traditional couture which also has scope for Disney princesses. The flouncy off-shoulder ensembles in muted shades are made for the urban bride who is playful and chic. An elegant blend of the east-west aesthetics.

The closure came with a burst of traditional colours. An all-out celebration of what makes the Indian weddings big and fat. The brides and their grooms both looked rich. Tahiliani’s designs for men seemed to outshine the lehengas despite the latter’s opulence.

The long flowing kurtas with their elegant fall, teamed with jackets and sherwanis of different lengths, were unusual and aesthetically pleasing. The parsi gara work, the zardozi, the chikankari and the gota made a stunning sartorial impact. Then, there were the caps again. This time they reminded one of the traditional Kashmiri Pandit weddings.

Tahiliani went further with his subversion game.

The brides and the grooms did not go overtly “matching-matching”, the cringe-worthy trend that seems to have engulfed bridal-wear in India.

Wedding needs to be a celebration of two individuals committing themselves to each other without the need for self-effacement or subjugation. Same goes for cultures.

Describing his new collection, Tahiliani insisted upon “lightness”; it is, however, the nonchalant political gravity of this collection that makes it remarkable.