New Delhi, Jan. 9 -- From the outside, it looks like an office room straight out of a James Bond film. There are glass walls, dim lights, cement grey-coloured floor tiles and pillars, rows of cupboards, two employees glued to their computers and CCTV cameras watching your every move.

At the end of the 900 sq. ft fireproof room are rows of cream-coloured compactors. Inside lie three decades of custom-made couture by Tarun Tahiliani, who, along with Anita Dongre, J.J. Valaya, Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla, belongs to the first generation of India's couturiers.

Each compacter, somewhat like a sliding shelf that dramatically reduces the space needed to store each creation, while keeping it safe from humidity, moisture and other elements that ...