Tarun Tahiliani's take on trends of trend of pastels in Indian weddings

New Delhi: Many young Indian women want a slightly modern take on their wedding trousseau, which is difficult to achieve in a bright red colour, says renowned designer Tarun Tahiliani.

Be it Anushka Sharma and Alia Bhatt or the recent celebrity weddings of Parineeti Chopra and Mahira Khan, pastels seem to have replaced colours.

Tahiliani, who presented his 'Luxe Pret 2023' collection at the Lakme Fashion Week in partnership with FDCI here, decoded the reason behind the growing popularity of subtle shades.

"We live in a very different milieu today. We are wearing a lot of black, paler colours. So, suddenly now to dress up in all these bright colours seems a little costumey for some people.

"Tomorrow, when you get married, chances are you may not want to be 'Jodha Akbar', you don't feel that need anymore. You want to be a modern Indian bride. Most of the girls want to leave their hair open, they want to look like themselves," the designer told PTI on the sidelines of the ongoing fashion week.

According to Tahiliani, it's important for the contemporary Indian bride to know what suits her and what she wants.

"I have a daughter-in-law. She just said, 'I just want to look natural, I want to see one tiny necklace.' She could have had anything and I said 'Just be yourself'. That's beautiful.

"(At the same time) There's nothing wrong with someone who wants to really go over the top. But I think you all want a slightly more modern take. So, if you want all that to work, it's difficult to achieve that in bright red and multicolours. Not that it's not beautiful, you have to wear what suits you and what you want to," he added.

The 61-year-old designer, who closed the first day of the fashion gala on Wednesday, seamlessly blended new-age forms with classic artisanal crafts for his clothing line for both women and men.

Tones of bronze, burnished gold, silver, and copper were a principal part of the collection, which was based on the theme of 'A Celebration of Self Expression'.

"I want different women to imbibe their own personality into these clothes. We had a lot of colour but it's subtle. It's got a dull shade so you can dress up or down. It's glamorous without being blingy," Tahiliani said.

Tahiliani's designs were moulded into lehengas, jumpsuits, pant suits, sherwanis, sari dress, dhoti pants, kaftans, and gowns.

The palette was a rainbow of colours ranging from iridescent rose gold, pinks, reds, maroons, peacock teal, royal indigo, browns, matte greys to blacks. In fact, the whole ramp was teal in colour. Metallics added a marked glamour quotient to the collection.

"There was also khaki, teal... It's lots of dull metallics. This is festive, it's the things you wear to weddings... We, Indians, are a race that likes to dress up. I think it's beautiful but we need to give people dressy things that are a little more sporty and easy (to wear)," he added.

The show started with some dramatic effects of lightning and thunder as massive bronze plate structures hung from the ceiling of the presentation hall at the Pragati Maidan here.

Dressed in sheer and velvet fabrics, models strutted down the ramp to foot-tapping songs like "Beautiful People, Beautiful Problems", "I Put a Spell On You", and "Love and Hate in a Different Time".

The collection had exquisite motifs inspired by Madhubani style flora, bold and abstract geometric and paisley prints with the designer exploring