October 21, 2020: During FDCI’s Lotus Makeup India Fashion Week SS’21, Indian designer Tarun Tahiliani launched his Wedding Couture collection – The Age of Innocence.
Mr. Tahiliani took inspiration from Indian roots to express a sense of normalcy amidst chaos, reminding everyone that celebrations have become even more sacred in the post-pandemic world. As the definition of an Indian ‘wedding’ undergoes a new meaning, weddings are no more about bright lights, big rooms and thousands of people. It is all about “Lightness”, “Joy”, and above all.. “to be herself”.
Explaining his thought process, Mr. Tahiliani says, “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”.
Hidden minakari work and celebrated colours such as aquas, shell pinks, pale jades and tea roses have been the primary inspiration for the collection. This unique savoir faire juxtaposed with that of jamevaars gave birth to this Indian Modern Bride. These exquisite pieces, with hand painted motifs, are delicately embroidered by hand, resulting in rich and weightless distinctive modern pieces of today.
The studio has reimagined the same jamevaar techniques for the groom, where an age old weave, a piece of art worn by royalty has come alive in Mr. Tahiliani’s own signature way.
Modern fits and silhouettes, lehengas with pockets that weigh almost nothing, are the designer’s diktat for “Freedom , Lightness and Love”.
Mr. Tahiliani expresses: “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 enamelling 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.”
The collection truly celebrates special moments, simpler times and revisiting your roots. A collection of lightness that couples find within themselves and celebrations with people who truly matters. It is, indeed, the return of the Age of Innocence.
