The Paris Olympics 2024 kicked off on 26 July in Paris as the opening ceremony was witnessed the contingents floating down on River Seine, with players waving their country's flag high.
The 117-member Indian contingent donned the dress designed by celebrated fashion designer Tarun Tahiliani. However, it failed to impress the audience as people on social media referred to it as 'cheap' and 'tacky'.
Calling it a combination of digital prints, cheap polyester fabric and the tricolour thrown together without any imagination, Dr Nandita Iyer took to X and wrote, “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 (!!!), tricolors 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.”
She also examples of stunning ceremonial uniforms from Olympic 2024.
Not only Dr Iyer, even actor Tara Deshpande stated that the Indian contingent looked aweful. She wrote, "They look absolutely awful. We have the greatest textile tradition in India. Who passed this design? Who budgeted for this?”
X user Namita wrote, “The sari fabric could have been tussar or chanderi. The border could have been genuine ikat or kutchi/phulkari hand embroidery. The colours should have been brighter. Anyone holding the brighter-hued Tricolour is bound to look washed out.”
X user Ajay Kamath opined, "This is the best that Tarun Tahiliani could come up with? We are so used to our athletes looking so smart, normally. This feels like he phoned in the design…"
Earlier in an interview with The Hindu, Tarun Tahiliani defended the choice of ikat print vs weave. "We used viscose because it is a wood pulp fibre and lets you breathe. It is cooler than silk,” he said, adding, “We had to consider breathability because the athletes would be on a barge, in the heat, for up to five hours.”
