On a recent summer evening, New Delhi’s socialites gathered at Bikaner House — the erstwhile pied à terre of Rajasthani royalty — for a fashion show of Tarun Tahiliani, a feted Indian designer, whose lavish bridalwear ranges from $17,000 to $21,000 for a single outfit.
Guests were served flutes of pink champagne sprinkled with jasmine petals, lychee wantons, pulled pork tacos and tuna squares. They clapped appreciatively as models strutted past in glittering saris and full-skirted lehengas, embellished with elaborate embroidery and Swarovski crystals.
Mr Tahiliani’s outfits are beloved by India’s super-wealthy business elites who, since the end of socialist austerity in the 1990s, have revelled in displays of their riches, boosting an indigenous luxury industry once believed to be recession proof.