Indian fashion will witness exciting times: JJ Valaya
Neha Saini
Amritsar, January 23
JJ Valaya has been a master revivalist, whether it is his designs or the brand itself. Three decades into the fashion industry, Valaya has managed to create a niche, with his signature blend of royal aesthetics and unmatched flair through his designs, which has only grown in value in Indian fashion scene. The ace couturier, who chooses to stay behind the scenes in times when building a fashion label means ‘being omnipresent’, was in Amritsar and got candid as he shared insights into the brand and the man behind it at a special session curated by Phulkari Women of Amritsar at Radisson Blu, Amritsar.
Valaya said he believes in creating pieces that stand the test of time. “I feel that as designers in India, it’s our duty to keep the Indian craft alive and that it stays relevant. It has been my mission to bring together the past and future through my designs. As once Maharani Geeta Devi of Kapurthala had shared with me after looking at my designs, it seemed like the future of the past,” he said.
His foresight and creativity have given a fresh and vibrant identity to Indian fashion, ensuring that it can be intertwined with cultural richness. Reviving not just the Indian craft and Karigars, he also shared how he revived his brand with JJV Kapurthala collection which came out in 2019. “One of the defining moments of my life was when I decided to shut shop and disappear, literally, in 2017, just after celebrating 25 years of being in business. After two years of sabbatical, just when everybody thought the brand is done with, we came back with JJV Kapurthala, a collection inspired by my roots in Punjab.” It was inspired by Maharaja Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala’s travels and distinct royal aesthetics. “I am a nomad at heart and I believe in three core principles that my brand symbolises – royalty, art deco and nomad aesthetics. Also, as a revivalist, I am not a historian but I do a lot of research before getting down to the basics of designing a collection knowing that you have to push the boundaries and reinvent,” he shared.
The one to go global before the ‘India has arrived on global fashion map’ hype began, Valaya also shared his experience of working with Oscar winning fashion designer Ruth Carter for ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’. “It’s an interesting story as Ruth discovered me through Instagram and approached for a collaboration before Black Panther 2. In ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, we designed for Angela Basset’s role of Queen Ramonda. Ruth won her second Oscar for ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’.”
From his days as a budding designer at a time when nobody wrote about fashion and there were only a handful of designers working to create an industry to the contemporary cut-throat, fast-fashion influenced industry, Valaya said that Indian fashion will witness exciting times ahead. “Just theatre and fabric is not fashion, nor one or two Indian designers showcasing at global fashion weeks a testament to Indian fashion industry’s scope. India as a country has arrived and in sync with that, the fashion industry too needs to come together, focusing on bringing the rich tapestry of Indian craft and textiles, techniques on global scale.”
