IndiaRetailing brings you a series in which we highlight the brand icons in India’s thriving fashion and lifestyle industry. Today, the spotlight is on Tarun Tahiliani
Bengaluru: No business can survive for long without a vision; even if it does, it would be susceptible to every disruption and upheaval that generally comes in its business cycle. It needs a leader who has the capacity to translate, create that vision, or make it clearer and turn it into reality. The very essence of leadership is having a vision in the first place. Moreover, as you can’t blow an uncertain trumpet, it should be clearly articulated so that they can manage and lead people. A team led by a visionary leader with a clear direction knows what it can achieve and how far it can go.
In this special feature, IndiaRetailing highlights the brand icons in India’s thriving fashion and lifestyle industry. Today, the spotlight is on…
Tarun Tahiliani
Director/Creative Director, Goodview Fashion Pvt Ltd
Education
• Degree in Business Management from the Wharton School of Business
• Associate degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York
Career history and experience
Tarun Tahiliani founded his design studio in 1995. Tahiliani started his professional career with a degree in Business Management from the Wharton School of Business,
University of Pennsylvania. After returning to India, he saw the vast potential in the ȱ ne clothing and couture industry that was evolving in the country. In 1987, he opened India’s first multi designer boutique, Ensemble, heralding a fashion and retail revolution in India. In 1991, Tahiliani decided to hone his technical knowledge in design, and received an associate degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology,
New York.
Strengths & weaknesses
Strengths:
• Combine dreams with a practical vision
• Dogged discipline and perseverance
• Like to work on my own
Weaknesses:
• Poor editor, too many ideas all at once
• Brutally honest in feedback
• I am still caught between eastern + western aesthetics
Aspirations
Have a spectacular craft-based Indian brand, taking our heritage and making a modern story.
Game changing retail technologies according to you
• Laser measurements that feed into the customisation.
• Ability to see self in the clothes.
• Perseverance, the desire to learn and improve fit and finesse.
• The excitement of creating.
• The love of working with our craft, textiles, and the draped form.
Skills that helped you succeed in this industry
Fashion may change but style and quality endure, stick to your inner voice and aesthetic. Build your design identity, from a space deep inside.
Your take on the future of industry
The future- more consolidation.
Any role model in the industry
• Karl Lagerfeld for pure magic and innovation, drive, zeal, and prolific intellectually researched design.
• Asha Sarabhai for her amazing, “Asha by MDS” line, and bits of so many other that I admire.
• JRD Tata for his pursuit of excellence.
• My father, Admiral Tahiliani for his integrity with everything he did. Without that, nothing is worth it.
If you had to pen down your top 3 learnings from your career
Give yourself time, stay in your lane, and compete with yourself and only to your own voice.
Life mantra
Always, always a silver lining.
This article first appeared in IMAGES Group’s Business of Fashion Magazine March 2023 issue.
