Tarun Tahiliani is the couturier I keep tabs on. The only one. And so, I am not surprised that I discover myself en route to Delhi from Mumbai, for a TT couture exposition. After all, had I not winged my way to Milan for a single night some years ago, when he debuted at the Milan Fashion Week, the first Indian designer invited to do so? The thing about Tarun is this. That while he may not wish to be seen as part of the history of Indian couture and in fact, perhaps, the very beginning of it and while I will not fossilise him by saying this, he is. Tarun is, funnily enough, where it all began – in a machine tool’s showroom at Lion’s Gate, Mumbai, today one of fashiondom’s chic addresses.

Sometimes, I feel that the designer sees himself as the most unlikely candidate to be Tarun Tahiliani. His own talent, as also his vast success, seem to confound him. Which is why he never stops.... He set the bar many years ago and he continues to raise it, for the most part playing out his own historic role, almost like a man alone. The sheer effort, creativity and breadth of his vision, confront me now as I step into darkness only slightly punctuated by a starry indoors sky, created within a tent, itself a creation in an open area at Delhi’s DLF Emporio. The faint outlines of fabulousness gaze stonily back at me from wedding scenes and tableaux intricately created by the fashion maestro. These six installations are themes that highlight the great Indian wedding or a fantasy of a dream wedding. They depict the puja, mehendi, sangeet, shaadi, reception and Mughal Garden. And then I spot him, all in black, at ease with a glass of wine, surveying the world that he has created in order to pitch his new couture collection.

Later, after the lights have come on and the intricacies of each sculptural garment duly inspected by press and guests, I ride home with him to his farmhouse, packed in with all things cultural including signature vases with ceiling-scraping floral arrangements and paintings, some of his own making. He is blunt, as always, as he seems to be thinking aloud: “I am not really sure what the inception of the idea was except that I have thought for a long time that a lot of us designers have been disdainful of bridal and about what is couture…and couture in India is about bridal and about doing fine things. I don’t know why…I have always done it…actually not the designers, the press goes ‘bridal, bridal, bridal’ because this whole ready-to-wear thing seemed very hep and of course, there was the white bias coming in…I think we became a little warped and we forgot to look at our market for what it was.” The recession ironically put things into perspective: “When you see in a recession that this top line is growing and you are doing very beautiful things with very discriminating people, then we start looking at things and knowing that we need to do this. We do our ready-to-wear shows and everything else but what do we do to promote this?”

This exposition has been inspired by the Costumes of Royal India, an exhibition that was mounted by Diana Vreeland in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. “With couture, the models just fly up and down the ramp and you can’t see the detail, and Indian couture is not about just bows and things; it is about finesse and real fine detail, even Western couture would be amazed at the hand detail, so I thought why not show it in a setting that people will relate to and conceive of this detail.” New techniques in embroidery (a seeming mixture of gota and appliqué as Ensemble’s Tina Tahiliani points out), a vast palette of colour (some kurtas are finely shaded to include up to 40 colours) and some digital prints (“What virtual reality is for other people, digital is for me”) take this collection to the next level of Indian couture. As also a singular lack of bling. Though, “Frankly, I am a Sindhi and have no problem with bling,” he shrugs. Swarovski elements, a collection of meenakari in uncut diamonds by Gems Paradise and other precious jewels fit for a contemporary bride augment with requisite shine.

And the fit! “My customer wants to look hot even when wearing something traditional,” he says. “These mannequins have not been fitted, the clothes just fit like that,” he points out, darting a look at the specially commissioned dancing mannequins inspired by old paintings of nautch girls. I know this. The first time I wore a Tarun Tahiliani choli, I was transformed into a believer – the garment embraced my body, enhanced curves, moulded and showed aristocratic cleavage. It was perfect. New techniques for bustiers, backless kurtis and cholis it is now apparent, would put even that prize choli I own to shame. Time, perhaps, for a wardrobe revamp?

Sister Tina claims that boredom is her brother’s greatest fear. “I need to do so much not to be bored,” he confesses. “I love to do these other projects because it makes everything when I come back to work feel new. I like to work all the time…for me work is fun.” In the middle of his spring/summer collection, planning campaigns and star shoots, off to Hong Kong for a watch pre-launch, in the throes of creating the décor for a high-profile restaurant, Tarun has made sure that he has conquered his greatest fear with élan. And meanwhile, even as he sells lehengas and kurtas, his clients are actually buying into the idea of sheer luxury and privilege, tapping into his own imagination and unbounded energy.

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