Tarun Tahiliani’s secret isn’t embroidery. It’s context

Context, in Tarun Tahiliani’s universe, is as carefully constructed as a corset. That instinct has long set him apart. Long before “immersive experiences” became the Indian fashion industry’s favourite phrase, Tahiliani, 64, was inviting editors to spend time in his studio before a show, walking them through the process rather than merely the finished product.

For his 25th anniversary, he transported guests to the Qutub Minar after opening the doors of his atelier. For his 30th year, he turned Hyderabad into an extended meditation on India Modern, beginning with a lecture in the famed Jade Room at the Taj Falaknuma Palace before moving to the restored British Residency, where architecture, AI projections, history and couture folded into one another. In the closing segment, the narration of Where the Mind is Without Fear by Rabindranath Tagore brought Tahiliani’s unifying vision into focus.