30 YEARS: A MAXIMALIST

DESIGNER JJ VALAYA TALKS TO ASHWINI ARUN KUMAR ABOUT COMPLETING THREE DECADES IN THE INDUSTRY, HIS NEW MASSIVE FLAGSHIP STORE, AND THE LAUNCH OF HIS MOST AMBITIOUS BRAND, JJV

- ASHWINI ARUN KUMAR

I want to show you something,” says designer JJ Valaya as he takes his phone out of the pocket of his uniform bandhgala jacket. He spends a couple of minutes searching, his thumbs incessantly scrolling, and, at last, he finds it. It’s an image of Sushmita Sen from her pageant days, sandwiched between two other models wearing JJ Valaya’s clothes, which was featured in Femina. The couturier who is celebrating three decades in Indian fashion this year has a longstanding relationship with us.

We are seated on plush sofas in Le Salon du Musee, a private lounge of sorts on the lower ground floor of his new flagship store in New Delhi’s Aerocity, aptly called the World of Valaya. It houses one-of-a-kind pieces of precious jewellery he’s designed, and is adorned with breathtaking frescos that speak of his obvious fascination with the Art Deco period. In this room that also moonlights as the entrance to the museum where fashion enthusiasts can marvel at his single-edition masterpieces, he plans on hosting the brides who come to him with aspirations of wearing his modern, maximalist lehengas and saris on their big day.

While most know Valaya for his exaggerated surface embroideries and dramatic bridal couture, we’re here to talk about his pivotal new brand, JJV, that made its debut at the FDCI X Lakmé Fashion Week this season.