Tarun Tahiliani turns 30 in Hyderabad (and tries AI)

Hours to go to Tarun Tahiliani’s 30th anniversary show, on January 16, and he’s not romanticising his glorious years in Indian fashion or how he pioneered ‘India Modern’ as wearable craft-led couture and ready-to-wear. Neither is he reminiscing about the decades gone by. Instead, he’s rushing from his atelier, where he’s just shipped off the last container of show-ready looks, and heading home for his daily workout followed by his bi-weekly course in AI (he’s on level two) and a good long sleep. Sixty-something TT isn’t nostalgic—he’s charged and raring for what comes next.

Over the years, Tahiliani has remained the darling of south Delhi and south Bombay, with his sophisticated but rooted aesthetic loved by It girls for decades now. But the venue for what will be his marquee show moves away from his comfort zone and on to a historical slice of Hyderabad.

Why Hyderabad? Simple answer: because Delhi said no. “Initially, I wanted the Purana Qila. It’s exquisite, it’s accessible and it’s right here in my city. But boy oh boy, I’ve discovered why the south is so progressive and not the north. The runaround had me tearing my non-existent hair out,” he quips. While bureaucracy might have killed his capital dreams, as luck would have it, his old friend Shalini Bhupal came to the rescue along with the World Monuments Fund and opened the doors to the recently restored British Residency in Hyderabad.

It was built in the early 1800s by James Achilles Kirkpatrick, whose nearly forgotten romance with Khair-un-Nissa was chronicled by William Dalrymple in White Mughals. But the architectural gem sang to TT when he saw it, more so when he started unpacking its history. The British Residency was built as a collaboration between Kirkpatrick and local craftspeople. “We were raised with a very sharp Western gaze, but fashion changed that for me. It made me proud of my Indian heritage and history. Both the West and East are part of my story, and it comes together so beautifully here. Plus, I love the Deccan culture.”

TT’s 30th anniversary show will showcase his body of work, including his signature light-as-air couture celebrating heritage Indian craft and expert tailoring, his recently launched OTT ready-to-wear label, his craft-led accessories, and the designer’s first AI-aided creation (“it was a hoot.” he says, explaining that he fed the prompts and co-created a look with his AI chatbot). But fear not, he isn’t retiring his sketchbook anytime soon, “Work is nine-hour days six days a week…and sketching is my therapy and meditation. As fun as the prompts are, I’m not changing my process. I work in the old, classical way. It’s the only way to run an atelier.”

Coming back to the show, he’s got his old crew together, with an exhibition designed by his longtime collaborator Sumant Jayakrishnan and the show styled by Gautam Kalra and choreographed by Aparna Bahl and Tanya Lefebvre, alongside music by Sahil Vasdeva and hair by Laurent Philippon (“It’s the one thing that always bothers me in shows. The hair is never up to snuff. But he always gets it right!”). There’s also an afterparty headlined by Ma Faiza. In all, it promises to be a signature TT blowout with his brand of “madness” intact.

While he takes the weekend to celebrate his 30 years in the biz, TT is keener on the next 30. He’s in expansion mode—it started in 2021 with him joining hands with Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Limited. First came the accessible menswear brand Tasva, which is rapidly opening stores across the country. Then followed his ready-to-wear label OTT, which he sees as not just his brand’s future but as his legacy, taking India Modern beyond special occasions and into everyday luxury and wardrobes. He’s now going global—TT will be opening his first store in Dubai in the next few months.

And even though he refuses to put the sepia-tinted glasses on, I can’t help but ask what makes Tarun Tahiliani the brand it is today. “Probably, the most dangerous decision I made as a designer in India, and that was to not focus on bridal alone. Everyone thought I was a mad man for years. I tried and failed at ready-to-wear for years and years but now it’s on and it is the future. I’m so glad I stuck it out.”