Tarun Tahiliani

Biography

Tarun Tahiliani is a noted Indian fashion designer. With his wife Sailaja 'Sal' Tahiliani, he co-founded the multi-designer boutique Ensemble in 1987, and Tahiliani Design Studio in 1990. Based in Delhi, he is best known for his ability to infuse Indian craftsmanship and textile heritage with tailored silhouettes. His signature is to combine traditional aesthetics with modern design. Over the years, he also became known for his bridalwear.

Of late, Tahiliani has taken on several projects in interior design. He has designed interiors for hotels (such as The Sofala, Goa), restaurants (the Aish at the Park, Hyderabad), resorts, and homes, and has even begun to event design for Indian weddings.

His father later served as the Chief of the Naval Staff of the Indian Navy between 1984 and 1987 and as the Governor of Sikkim between 1990 and 1994. His mother Jaswanti Tahiliani was the first female engineer in Mumbai, who studied at VJTI, Mumbai. She died of cancer, while he was still studying at Doon School, a few years later his father remarried.

On returning to India, he first joined the family business in oil-field equipment. Eventually, in 1987 he and Sailaja opened a multi-designer boutique, Ensemble, with the help of designer Rohit Khosla in Mumbai. 

The stored featured works of five designers Abu Jani & Sandeep Khosla, Rohit Khosla, Anuradha Mafatlal, American fashion designer Neil Bieff and label Anaya, by Anita Shivdasani and Sunita Kapoor, Anil Kapoor’s wife and their label, Ahilian. By now, he had started sketching however he was still an untrained designer, thus in 1991, he went to the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York to study design. 

After his return, he shifted business to Delhi. When in 1995, British heiress Jemima Khan wore one of his outfits for her wedding to Imran Khan, his work was first noticed.

Ensemble has stores in Mumbai and Delhi, and Tahiliani runs the chain with his sister Tina Tahiliani Parikh, who joined the business in 1990.

Tarun also worked with Save the Children India to urge the government to increase the health budget to 3 percent ahead of the budget announcement.