How Genesis’ 1986 album Invisible Touch, and meeting Phil Collins, changed the life of a fashion label founder
- Listening to Invisible Touch brings Tania Mohan, founder and creative director of Hong Kong fashion label Tabla, the happiest memories of her life
- Getting the chance to go to Australia to present Phil Collins with an award on behalf of the Hong Kong people taught Mohan to trust her gut instinct
The 13th album from Phil Collins-fronted band Genesis, “Invisible Touch” (1986), marked the final stage of the formerly progressive rock act’s transition to a more accessible, pop-oriented sound.
Tania Mohan, founder and creative director of Indian-influenced Hong Kong fashion label Tabla, tells Richard Lord how it changed her life.
It was summer; I was 15 going on 16. Invisible Touch came out and I just loved it from the moment I heard it. I had such a wonderful summer, and this album reflected it.
That was the summer I went to school in England; it was a wonderful boarding school, and I played this album all the time I was there. Until today, it brings me the happiest memories of my life.
It’s an album that never gets old – I was listening to it this morning, and I still love it.
It started me loving Phil Collins in particular. When I finished studying in Hong Kong, Phil Collins was due to come here (in 1990), with the ...But Seriously album.
He ended up cancelling and (the record company) WEA organised a competition where they’d send two people to Australia to present him with a Best Male of the Year Award on behalf of the people of Hong Kong.
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They organised a cocktail party at the Holiday Inn Harbour View, and they said that people who went had a chance of going to Australia and meeting Phil Collins.
I went to the party, which was lovely, and then at the end the MC put his hand into the lucky draw and picked out two names – neither of which was mine. But I left saying, “I’m going to go to Sydney and giving him that award.”
My friends said I was crazy, but I just knew, even though they’d picked out the names.
Two weeks later, I got a call from Commercial Radio, saying, “We heard you were at the party – is it OK if we put you on air and ask you about it?”
We talked about it, and then the DJ said, “What would you do if I told you that one of the people they picked was underage – and we’re going to take you instead?”
I was the happiest girl in the world. I remember when I met Phil Collins, he was really engaging, and asked me all about Hong Kong.
It led me to trusting my gut instinct. A few years later, I was at a crossroads in my life; I was 28 and I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I’d been a fashion editor and I’d studied law. Then I got offered the opportunity to open a shop in Prince’s Building.
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I had no experience of being a designer and no experience of opening shops. But I went with my gut. Without even consulting my parents, I said I would open the shop in three months. It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
I do believe so much in the gut. I believe we have six senses: the gut is the sixth. And when the album talks about an invisible touch, that sounds like the gut, too.
