ELLE Exclusive: Tarun Tahiliani To Unveil ‘Quintessence’ At India Couture Week 2025

He’s back. Well, he never really left. Tarun Tahiliani’s upcoming outing at Hyundai India Couture Week 2025 has a solid agenda in mind: sharpening the edges of what already works. With Quintessence, he pares things back to focus on cut, craft, and movement. Think corseted bodices, fluid sarees, sculptural drapes, and a palette that whispers in almond, ivory and old rose. 

Read our chat with the icon, below.

ELLE: What’s different this time around, at India Couture Week? You’re a seasoned player—how do you embrace reinvention every season?

Tarun Tahiliani (TT): Reinvention, for me, is simply the natural outcome of showing up every day with the urge to do better. I don’t believe in starting from scratch each season—I believe in evolution. We build upon what we’ve learned technically, aesthetically, and even emotionally. So yes, you’ll see familiar pillars—chikankari, kashidakari,crystals, fine resham embroidery—but now rendered with more drape, more movement, better cuts, and a certain fluid finesse that wasn’t possible even five years ago. We’re constantly pushing the conversation forward. If we didn’t, what would be the point?

ELLE: Tell us about the cuts, colours, and silhouettes utilised in your upcoming collection for ICW 2025.

TT:Quintessence is about restraint, about the quiet power of precision. The cuts are refined—corseted bodices, softly structured jackets, panelled kalidars, drapedlehengas, fluid sareeswith sculptural pleating. There’s a certain sensuality in how these garments move and embrace the body. The colour palette is ethereal—almond, ivory, old rose, and soft golds, punctuated by the occasional burst of black or deep ruby. As for silhouette, everything is imagined to evoke lightness—it floats, flows, caresses.

ELLE: If you were to draw parallels between this collection and one of your previous ones, which one would it be—and what would the overlap signify in terms of your evolution?

TT:I think every collection we do is an evolutionary story. We don’t reinvent from the outside in; we refine from the inside out. All our collections are built on the same foundational pillars—craft, fit, drape, and a deep respect for India’s artisanal legacy. Painted textiles, translucent layers, restrained palettes, and sharper cuts—these are the results of years of pushing technique, balancing intricacy with effortlessness. It’s an evolution in how we see modernity—not louder, just more distilled.

ELLE: How do you deal with creative burnout—you’re notoriously known for doing the most number of shows in the industry.

TT:I don’t think I experience creative burnout in the classic sense. I genuinely love what I do. Of course, there are days when I need to disconnect—go away for a bit, take a walk, spend time with family, or check into a spa. However, I believe that when you're driven by curiosity rather than ego, the creative process becomes regenerative. The more you create, the more you want to create.

ELLE: Five songs that would fit into a playlist inspired by your upcoming collection?

TT:“Take Five” by Dave Brubeck

“Main Shayar Toh Nahi”by Shailendra Singh

“Feeling Good”by Nina Simone

“Show Some Emotion”by Joan Armatrading

“Made in India” by Alisha Chinoi

There’s a sense of texture in each of these songs—layered, intuitive, emotive. Just like the clothes.

ELLE: Couture—why? What keeps you hooked on creating something extravagant today, when prêt is king?

TT:Luckily, I now get my dopamine hit from both. With OTT, our ready-to-wear line, I explore the freedom of western separates in an India-modern vocabulary. But couture—that’s where I can dive into finesse. Into the handwork, the form, the poetry of textiles. I think most designers love both extremes—structure and softness, drama and restraint. Prêt may be king, but couture is still the soul. It lets you dream.

As an appreciator, you can tell it’s quieter than past collections, but no less confident—proof that sometimes, refinement speaks louder than reinvention.

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