Pause And Effect

It’s not often that leading designers drop out and hit pause. But after a quiet three years, JJ Valaya makes his big comeback with a renewed commitment to couture matched by a new collection, space and idea of luxury

- Shahnaz Siganporia

A couple of years ago, at another designer’s couture show, as the lights dimmed and the models sashayed in, JJ Valaya realised he was bored. Bored by the well-dressed rat race that he had become a part of—the knock-off-like trend-based aesthetic that he was seeing show after show, the templated cycle in which couture was stuck, the exasperating pace of fast fashion outside and the visual clutter that occupied hashtag-happy screens. “After 25 years, I was bored of what I was seeing and, quite honestly, of what I was doing as well,” he says. The veteran designer decided to take a well-deserved break—the proverbial gap year or two. “The one thing I’m absolutely clear about is that I don’t want to spend another moment doing something that I don’t enjoy anymore. The present is the most important time of my life and I am thoroughly grateful for all that it brings with it. A quick hiatus, it turns out, is a wonderful companion,” he says with a big smile.

When we meet, Valaya is the picture of a strange breed of excitement-meets-contentment; he’s done the Eat, Pray, Love and come back to the thing he loves doing most—making fashion. “I wanted to restructure and reshape everything—the way I worked, my entire world. I was just dying to make beautiful couture, homes, photography and art again. I can’t let Abu, Sandeep, Tarun, Gudds, Manish and Sabya have all the fun now, can I!” he says, with a laugh and a nod of appreciation to his peers. And just like that, Valaya is a man with a plan.

A NEW ORDER