Falling for Fashion

Veteran designer Tarun Tahiliani revisits the classics as the opening designer
What’s your creative inspiration this season?
I’m always looking to redefine and reinvent the classics. For this collection, we’ve gone back to the basics and taken our trademark jewel motifs and tried to give them a contemporary spin. We’ve drawn inspiration from jewellery traditions from across the country and the world, taken antique necklaces and used them in the form of prints, embellishments and applique. We’ve also accessorised the collection with both costume and gold jewellery.

The accent is clearly on separates.
This is a consummate ready-to-wear collection. I love ready-to-wear; we live our lives in it. You can take different pieces from the collection and dress them up and make them your own. There are dhoti and lungi-inspired drapes, shirt dresses, kaftans, pants, tunics, gilets, and kurtas. For the first time we’re doing velvet and net cholis with gold coin embellishment. I believe ready-to-wear is going to be in great demand in the future. In India, we either have over-the-top bridalwear or ill-fitting casual clothes that are completely derivative of the West. Designers need to come up with clothes that revisit our classics, make them relevant and make them work for Indian bodies.

Lately, you’ve been focusing more on textiles. What can we expect from this line?
We’ve used beautiful textiles from Bhagalpur, West Bengal, gauze from Andhra Pradesh, and some amazing tussar with prints and patterns developed in-house. In terms of other fabrics, we’ve also done a line of tweed jackets and tweed cholis with pre-draped tussar saris. And we’ve used 100 per cent pure and hand-ombred cashmere in the form of capes, drapes and cholis.

What are some of the key pieces to look out for?
Apart from the cashmere pieces, the wide-bodied pants and our signature sari drapes are some of the highlights of the collection.

What else can we expect from the show?
You can look forward to a very strong fusion of ideas — we will have passages being read out from Rana Dasgupta’s book Capital, which he has personally earmarked for us, talking about the current dismal state of things. We will also have Rajasthani qawwals and musicians playing live. For me, this collection is a representation of the true India.

In her 10th year at fashion week, Namrata Joshipura is set to give the grand finale a sci-fi spin
This is your second finale after the Summer/Resort 2013 showcase at Lakme Fashion Week.
I’m grateful as well as appreciative of the WIFW team’s understanding of contemporary fashion. I don’t necessarily belong to the genre of aesthetics that have been showcased in previous seasons. I don’t mean to sound like a beauty pageant participant, but I applaud them for their fashion forward thinking and for giving me this opportunity.

Tell us about your Autumn-Winter 2014 finale show?
Nature has always been a recurring theme because I’m an outdoor-sy person — I love to trek and run. I’m also fascinated with sci-fi and that always manifests in my collections or presentations. This particular collection is called ‘elecTRONS’. I’ve been researching on artificial intelligence and have been reading up on brain mapping and neural patterns, and that’s how this collection has been incubated. I wouldn’t say it’s a futuristic collection because I believe that the future is now.

How will you bring your trademark Joshipura touch to this collection?
As is my trademark, I’ve explored different kinds of embellishments — bugle beads, leather paillettes and strips of fabric. I’ve developed various patterns and unique texturing methods where a printed fabric is cut into strips, rolled and then embroidered onto another fabric, with a final result that looks like weaving. My fascination for flowers will be seen in digitised, graphic flowers. And my deep-rooted love for ‘sporty chic’ will manifest in the T-shirt lengths, where I’ve taken the T-shirt block and extended it into a dress. My cyberpunk girl and her tribe will be seen wearing a lot of black, charcoal, teal, crimson, electrifying blue, berry and gold.

What, according to you, will be the biggest trends to watch out for at the Autumn-Winter 2014?
I think the sportswear chic streak will continue, albeit in a more glamorous way. Also, the T-shirt shape and winter jackets will be the key pieces this season.
Celebrities on the ramp or celebrities on your front row — which do you prefer?

I prefer celebrities in my front row wearing my clothes, because that’s a celebration of the brand. That said, when you do a sponsored show or the grand finale, the show is a partnership and you have to understand the sponsor’s requirement as well. Although I was opposed to the idea of celebrity showstoppers earlier, over the years I’ve realised that Bollywood stars are extremely fashion savvy. So, when they wear your clothes, I consider it a celebration, not an endorsement.