‘My language is visuals’ …says fashion designer JJ Valaya, who’s celebrating two decades of life in the ultra glam lane

‘My language is visuals’

…says fashion designer JJ Valaya, who’s celebrating two decades of life in the ultra glam lane

One of India’s veteran couturiers, JJ Valaya is celebrating the successful completion of 20 beautiful years in fashion. The year-long celebration began with the designer doing the finale at Delhi Fashion Week earlier this year. He’s now rolling out a vintage tour at Kimaya across three cities starting with Mumbai over this weekend. After Hrs caught up with the designer, who revealed the things he had in mind to mark his two decades in the fashion industry. “Yes, we officially complete 20 beautiful and designer years in Indian fashion. It surely has given us several reasons for a celebration. So, this year it’s all about celebrating our strong presence in fashion world in different ways. Many events have been planned all through this year, which will eventually result in a grand retrospective towards the end of the year. We have a collector’s edition coffee table book in the making, which tells the story behind every beautiful collection we made.” JJ has also got people from various walks of fashion industry to pose for his limited edition calendar. “I felt that all those who have been instrumental in the success of my journey of 20 years, deserve to be thanked. It was a small way of thanking them by getting fellow designers, models together in this calendar. Besides, I’m also venturing into e-trade. My pret lines will now be available for purchase online. The virtual presence is very strong today and it’s only going to grow, so I felt this was the right time to get into e-trade,” adds JJ. Talking about his coffee-table book, he says, “My language in it are its visuals. The high-point in my life was when I decided to quit chartered accountancy, and take on my vision and love for designing ahead. I wanted to compile my experience over 20 years in this pictorial as few people know what exactly goes on behind a fashion collection. Since pictures speak a thousand words, what better than a coffee-table book for that!” The designer is also planning a second photo exhibition soon.