He was the much awaited finale designer and for good reason too! The 24th edition of the Bangalore Fashion Week came to a close last Sunday and while the season as a whole was a celebration of new talent, it was Tarun Tahiliani’s prêt-a-porter brand Tasva that got the city’s fashionistas to take the effort to reach the venue in Electronics City way ahead of the show. What ensued was over 500 people packed into a hall meant to house 200 people. But all the discomfort seemed worth it as the show focused on everything that needed to be seen from Tasva’s latest collections.
We swooned over beautiful silhouettes in gold, cream, black, midnight blue and several other interesting shades as ensemble after ensemble proved to us that Tarun had got prêt-a-porter down to a formula. The exquisitely styled trousseaux featured kurtas, sherwanis, jackets and the most beautiful dupattas we’ve seen in a while — shameless in their celebration of ethnic and indigenous handicrafts and textiles. That Tarun decided to showcase his collection on several older men (who walked the ramp interspersed with regular models), also worked really well with the audience who burst into applause every time these grey-haired ‘studs’ sashayed down the ramp.
“Why should clothes only be about young people. Older people like to dress up too. I wanted to show that we design for men of all ages and body types — that’s where Tasva wants to be. The dupattas are my way of showing how this beautiful piece of fabric is as masculine as possible and is a great way to accentuate an ensemble,” begins Tarun as we catch up with him after the show.
We quickly change the topic to the lack of South Indian silhouettes for a groom in the collections. “I am fully aware of it and that’s what I want to do next, incorporate dhotis, lungis and mundus into the collection in a way that works with the Tasva aesthetic. That said, today, ideas of South Indian or North Indian are slowly disappearing, at least in the way we dress and that’s a great thing for a brand like ours,” Tarun concludes.
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