Not meant to be a couture show: Tahiliani defends Team India's uniform at Paris Olympics

Celebrated fashion designer Tarun Tahiliani, who recently designed an exquisite lehenga for Kim Kardashian for the Anant Ambani wedding, has finally responded to the massive and severe backlash he received for the Team India's outfits he had designed for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Reacting to the criticism slamming his designs for using cheap polyester-like fabric, ikat prints and the tricolours so unimaginatively, Tahiliani defended his designs.

Speaking to NDTV, Tahiliani, whose highly-priced designer wear are most sought after by Bollywood and other celebrities, dismissed the backlash saying, “This is what we Indians wear, and this is not meant to be a couture show."

Standing by his designs

According to Tahiliani, his team followed the International Olympic Committee's guidelines while creating the outfits. There were “last-minute changes”, he admitted but he firmly stood by his designs for the Indian athlete contingent.

To criticism about the casual use of the Indian tricolour, Tahiliani said that it is meant to reflect the colours of the Indian tricolour, making it recognisable from a distance. In his view, opinions may differ but he stood by the final outcome.

Further, he pointed out that his team had only three weeks to prepare the outfits and hence it was impractical to use handloom. He also defended his design, pointing out that while zardozi vests may have been easier, they weren't suitable for the occasion. On the sensitive topic of using digital ikat prints, he said efforts were made to include traditional elements, such as brocade shoes from Banaras.

The backlash

Tarun Tahiliani, in collaboration with Tasva, designed the outfits for Team India for the Paris Olympics 2024. They had said the designs were a fusion of tradition and modernity, inspired by the Indian tricolour flag.

But once the pictures of the 78 athletes and officials appeared at the glittering, stylish opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics 2024 on Friday (July 26), with PV Sindhu and Sharath Kamal as the flag bearers, netizens lashed out in fury.

One of them called the sarees sold in Mumbai streets "better" than that designed by the famous designer.

Taking to Twitter, she said, "Hello Tarun Tahiliani! I have seen better Sarees sold in Mumbai streets for Rs.200 than these ceremonial uniforms you’ve ‘designed’. Cheap polyester-like fabric, Ikat PRINT (!!!), tricolours thrown together with no imagination Did you outsource it to an intern or come up with it in the last 3 minutes before the deadline? Such a disgrace to the rich weaving culture and history of India."

The Team India's women's outfit was a saree in tri-colours showcasing the famous Ikat print, while the men wore similar coloured kurta-pyjamas paired with a Bundi-jacket. Many social media users mocked Tahiliani for designing beautiful outfits for celebrities attending the Ambani wedding (he had dressed Priyanka Chopra and Shanaya Kapoor as well) and making shoddy clothes for our Indian athletes.

Actor Tara Deshpande also took to X and wrote, "They look absolutely awful. We have the greatest textile tradition in India. Who passed this design? Who budgeted for this?"

Some people raised the issue of the "printed ikat" in the uniform instead of using hand-woven or hand-painted pieces. This was an excellent platform to showcase the rich heritage of Indian textiles. Vijayalaxmi Chhabra took to her Instagram handle and wrote, "The base fabric used for Team India’s ceremonial attire is Viscose and to create the tricolour effect, stripes of “Printed Ikat” fabric have been used."

"Does our Ministry of Textile/ Handloom realise the amount of damage it has done to our living textile traditions by approving the fabric used in this official ceremonial attire of Team India?