A luminary when it comes to fashion and style, Tanya Ghavri is a creative force to be reckoned with in India’s styling industry. A graduate of the Parsons School of Design in New York, her reputation precedes her, courtesy her impressive roster which includes India’s top superstar. This has cemented her position as a purveyor of the styling world. She now gears up for the seventh edition of the Dhoom Dhaam Trunk Show, with producer and director Ashi Dua for the new iteration of this exclusive event. We took this opportunity to catch up with Tanya Ghavri and discuss her enduring journey, her favourite styling moments and more.
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ELLE: Tell us a bit about your styling journey from the beginning.
Tanya Ghavri: I came to Parsons School of Design in New York to study fundamentals of design and like any other teen I was a bit confused about what I wanted to do in life. But i always had a creative bone in my body and I got taken in with fashion when in New York City, as it inspired me a lot. When I was 17-18, I decided that that I wanted to pursue fashion professionally. When I came back to India, I enrolled myself in an apparel manufacture design course in SNDT and thus, ensued the bombardment of opportunities my way.
And 2 and a half years into studying in India, I got the opportunity to work on a movie called Aisha as an assistant stylist to Pernia Qureshi. I was in Pernia’s team and we were styling all the girls, and thats where my styling journey began. Then I started working with Sonam and started styling her personally. Then it was Aishwarya which was a very big deal for me. Then came Lolo, then Kareena and Katrina. I was in a whirlpool of projects that just kept happening, with me just focusing on the work. I was enjoying styling, I was young, in my early 20s, and its been about 15-16 years now.
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ELLE: What was your ‘I made it moment’ that really set things into motion for you professionally?
Tanya Ghavri: I have styled the best of the best in India, and undoubtedly had an incredible journey, but what felt like my proudest moment would have to be when I styled Freida Pinto for the Vanity Fair Oscars party. Safe to say, that was my ‘Oh My God’ moment to style someone for one of the biggest events of the year. That will definitely go down in my memories, and hopefully one day I will style someone for the MET.
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ELLE: What do you think are the three core skills to make it as a stylist in India?
Tanya Ghavri: First come hard work, and understanding that the hours will be very long and tedious. Then comes a lot of research, which comes under hard work and being upto date and integrating yourself in a network whilst working with an established stylist. You have to make connections to learn on the job and understand exactly how it works. These things are of supreme importance.
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ELLE: Tell us a bit about your association with the Dhoom Dhaam trunk show.
Tanya Ghavri: So Dhoom Dhaam has been happening for quite a while. In 2016, we started when I was doing celebrity styling and my business partner Ashi Dua, who is a very acclaimed producer came to me with this idea. What if it was not just celebrities and the people in the public eye but what if you styled people or gave advice to people and bring it to each and everybody? What if we were to do a travelling trunk show in different cities where you can interact with different people who are shopping and need advice on styling for festivities, weddings and more?
Then came the idea of taking the show to different places where one could curate and meet people you would never have met otherwise. Interact with people and understand what they are looking for and get into the core of India, and thats how Dhoom Dhaam was born. In 2016 and we started only with one show in Mumbai for the first two years, then we decided to go to Delhi, and now we are doing five shows this year and the whole idea is to get bigger and get into more and more cities.
ELLE: Tell us about Hollywood celebrity you would like to style and why.
Tanya Ghavri: I think Jennifer Lawrence, i’d love to style her. I not only admire her personality or the way she acts but also how she is as a person. She is so funny and endearing. I would love to know her more than anything else and think it would be privilege to style her. Within the guys, Harry Styles for sure, he is such an icon, I would have a big star-struck moment if I ever met him.
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ELLE: How would you describe your personal style?
Tanya Ghavri: My personal style is very androgynous. I love over sized stuff, lots of black and whites and monotones. I love silhouettes that are exaggerated and refrain from wearing fitted stuff. Also because I am short, I like to wear shorter stuff and balance it with an oversized jacket or a shirt.
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