Last week
Tarun Tahiliani unveiled his latest wedding couture collection – The Age of Innocence – at the FDCI’s India Fashion Week SS’21. This collection was an acceptance of change and the holding on to ones roots. Tarun Tahiliani studio has held onto their roots and come out with an outstanding celebratory collection. With weddings now a private affair Tarun Tahiliani studio salutes the bride of today and serenades her with a collection that is light, joyful and comfortable.
One of the studio’s main inspirations for this collection is the hidden minakari work and its celebrated colours, that you would normally see in fine Indian jewellery aqua, shell pinks, pale jades and tea roses. It was the juxtaposition of this inspiration with that of Jaamevars that gave birth to the designer’s new vision for the ‘India Modern’ bride. The studio, in its 25th year, has recreated earlier renditions of the Jaamevaar. This time, they are exquisite pieces where their base has been taken from originally hand-painted motifs done at the studio, and then delicately embroidered by hand.
The creations are striking yet modern pieces, that are weightless and yet wonderfully rich. They are mixed with textiles of brocade. The new Jaamevaar couture collection is also reimagined for the groom to make the twosome a perfectly matched couple. It is an age-old weave, a piece of art once worn by royalty that has come alive in Tarun’s own signature way. Modern fits and silhouettes, lehengas with pockets that weigh almost nothing. This is the designer’s celebration of freedom, lightness and love.
The exquisitely crafted by jewellery by Shri Paramani Jewels and Birdhichand Ghanshyamdas Jewellers perfectly enhanced the collection. Speaking about the collection, Designer Tarun Tahiliani said, “I have always been obsessed with the quest of ‘how does one make things lighter and more contemporary?’ So, we decided to hand paint unique colours that you may not find a Jaamevar shawl in and then go back to our Kashida technique, which is hand-embroidering over the base and along the way somehow in that subtlety also came our inspiration from minakari – which is the fine art of enameling and painting on the back of the necklaces that are often made all over India.
To me that represents the highest form of luxury, because the detailing is at the back and it is so beautifully done – it sits on the wearer’s neck and it is only for the wearer, just like a beautiful garment. Whoever sees it will understand what real luxury feels like on your skin. In an ode to this new luxury and this new stillness, we’ve gone back to a time before Instagram, before magazines, before red carpets – where luxury was created for the wearer alone, for them to really immerse themselves into. There was an innocence in that, there was a purity. The clothes have been drawn, sculpted, engineered to upgrade lightness, to be glamorous and yet be Indian, very Indian. We have taken all the learnings of the studio from 25 years and put them into this new celebration of life, lightness and innocence”
Love and happiness redefined in challenging times. A celebration of something truly special, a once in a lifetime moment. This is the year of special moments, of simpler times, of going back to our roots. A return to the age of innocence, Tarun Tahiliani style.
