ByIANSlife Features

September 9, 2019 (IANSlife) After a three-year hiatus, JJ Valaya returns to the India fashion scene with his Fall-Winter collection, ‘Tabriz’. Inspired by mystical Persia, the couture collection reflects its creator's personal evolution as an elegant and luxurious traveller who has a playful and spiritual connect with life. 

“This show is very special too me because it’s after a significant gap of three years. I took a sabbatical for various reasons, one of them being working on an international project as a creative director. But this self-imposed exile, if I could call it that, has been a great period of discovery, it gave me a perspective and direction,” states the designer. 

Valaya is known for his couture creations, and has been chosen by many celebrities and renowned personalities to design their trousseaus. Valaya insists with 'Tabriz', he is going to make a lot of brides and grooms happy. “It's a completely new definition of couture, in terms of the whole experience and the quality of craftsmanship. We are a brand primarily catering to occasion wear and weddings. With 'Tabriz', the journey of choosing an outfit for your big day will be unparalleled; it’ll be by appointment only and the experience will go beyond exclusive. There will be no walk-in customers, we want to revive the entire atelier experience,” he explained.  

With most brands launching collections online without shows and focusing on social media marketing, is this the best way forward? “Most brides and grooms are young and know what they want. It is naïve to say that social media does not impact us. It is a new language and a very important part of it all. But as for paid partnership, that is not something which we are going to look at at the moment.  We have created beautiful clothes and an even better experience, we can only hope that people find merit in that,“ said Valaya without batting an eyelid. 

This Fall-Winter Collection is rooted in the 16th-19th century Persian aesthetic inspired from JJ’s own voyages, both geographical & personal. The designer will also unveil a unique photo exhibit, titled The Royal Nomad 2019. Since the designer spent some time working internationally, there must have been a few things that struck him about the work ethic in the industry oversees. “The induction of Bollywood on the runway has really taken away from the fashion; there the champion if the clothes, but here it’s the celebrity so its very overwhelming,” states a concerned Valaya. 

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