Tina Tahiliani Parikh, Executive Director, Ensemble

A customer struggles to drape a scarf in front of the mirror at tina tahiliani Parikh’s store ensemble at Kemp’s corner. Noticing her plight, Parikh approaches her and proceeds to show her the many ways in which she can drape the garment. “There are a 100 different ways in which you can drape a scarf,” she tells the lady. Later, when Parikh tells us she’s a people’s person, we find ourselves nodding in agreement. After all, we’ve just witnessed her interpersonal skills in action. For all the influence she holds over fashion trends in the industry, the executive Director of ensemble, India’s first multi-designer store, reveals that she never imagined herself being even remotely connected to the world of fashion. As a “nerdy kid”, Parikh always thought she was “the rational one”, while elder brother tarun tahiliani — the noted designer — was “the creative one”. Destiny, however, had other plans for the investment banker, who returned to India from the united states to take over the reigns of ensemble from her nbrother in 1990. “I always thought fashion was too frivolous for me. But as they say, man proposes, God disposes,” she philosophises. twenty-seven years later, ensemble has five stores, two in Delhi and three in mumbai, and continues to be a platform for young designers to showcase their creations.