There’s lots to learn from JJ Valaya. His sense of detachment, equilibrium and of course his passion and love for what he has been doing for the past three decades. We chatted with the master couturier on his spring-summer 2022 couture collection — Rumeli The Summer Saga, a regal yet contemporary line, the sabbatical he took and the way forward.
We have to ask you first what is the secret of your relentless pursuit of excellence in this profession? What has kept you going?
I think it all emanates from the basics, that you have to absolutely love what you do and then you are not working a single day in your life. Sometimes what happens in any profession, including ours, is that you get into the rat race and then try to keep up with the Joneses, as they say, and that perhaps is where things start to go wrong. Each one of us are unique in our own way and we have our own signature and if we kind of believe in that and keep pursuing that path, then it’s a path that you enjoy walking on as well as excelling in.
In the middle though when I did feel that I needed a reset myself is when I took a sabbatical from 2017 to 2019. I stepped out of active visibility and into my own introspective world and realised that I have to do what I truly enjoy and that’s the only way one can continue to excel.
Were you feeling trapped? Though you loved doing what you were doing, was there something you were looking for?
A friend of mine once said: ‘I realised I was running the rat race and the rats were not winning’. It’s a loaded statement if you look at it. This was more to do with my own energies within. Indian fashion by and large and especially when it comes to the kind of fashion we do, which is couture and bridal, was getting extremely repetitive and boring. And, I am not talking about me but the industry in general... loads of embroidery, quality be damned, thought process be damned... that can be an uninspiring process. In my case, I Iike to research my collection, going into the depths, but yet not getting historical about it because it is a visual medium at the end of the day. I like to take out things and mix it up... and make something beautiful, contemporary, modern and yet timeless. I felt at some point of time that I needed to sit back... to realign with a lot of things... somehow I had to take the game to the next level.
What did the reset do to you? When you came back, how did you feel as a person and a creative soul?
This is an internal process. I have been an ardent follower of spirituality... to me this is more about introspection and going within and it’s not only to do with work... you realise everything is interconnected anyway and then you start focusing on what gives you sheer joy. If you ask me how I felt after those two years, absolutely elated because I was back to doing something I have always loved doing, but this time with a much clearer vision.
The fundamental rule of life is if you are not enjoying the present moment, you are not enjoying anything. As it is, I think living every single moment is the key to happiness and that includes your work. Every moment matters and we are trying to make the best of everything — JJ Valaya
With Rumeli, what story are you telling this season?
The story of Alika and Ika is a different context and it has nothing to do with only Rumeli. It is literally me giving life to two people who are part of me and a figment of my imagination. These were actually jackets we had created some years back and we have given them human form by making them living siblings. I am going to make these two girls travel across the world... and they will show the collection through their eyes.
Rumeli per se is part of the countries I have been fascinated by, India... and all the countries along the spice route and the Spice Route. These kinds of civilisations and culture, with their legacy, have always been fascinating. I always enjoy going back in time, into different cultures and discovering a whole new language and reinterpreting it.
This is my third interpretation of the Ottoman Empire. There is just so much to explore. All my collections are an ode to where we come from and where we have to go. In the world of technology that we are blissfully trapped in, we are losing perspective of where we come from. I am trying in my own little way to discover as much as I can, reinterpret that so that it relates to a modern generation.
You are also showing a new label at FDCI X Lakme Fashion Week...
It’s a brand new label which is going to be called JJV. It’s a bridge-to-luxury line and will be inspired by the same inspiration, because it’s the season’s inspiration, but completely different.
How excited are you?
I am forever excited (laughs) because that’s the only way you can have fun and therefore excel and that was perhaps one of the reasons I went into the sabbatical.
Are you having the most fun right now doing new things, with a younger crop?
The fundamental rule of life is if you are not enjoying the present moment, you are not enjoying anything. As it is, I think living every single moment is the key to happiness and that includes your work. Every moment matters and we are trying to make the best of everything. Fashion is evolutionary and I have seen it change over the past three decades, but by and large, for Indian fashion and especially when it comes to couture and weddings, we have our DNA that we follow. Thankfully, that’s not changed, but within that tons of things have changed.
What is your approach to ready-to-wear?
It is a simple principle that today I am catering to a small percentage of my potential loyalists... how do we reach out to more and more people. After couture, which is luxury, we get into bridge-to-luxury and eventually we go into a pret line. It’s a planned approach. For the next few years we are only going to focus on couture and bridge-to-luxury lines and expanding our network. Eventually the idea is to try and reach out to as many people as we can... of course, I doubt very much that we’d ever go the mass market way, but in the premium, bridge-to-luxury and luxury, there is a lot to do.
Will you be taking inputs from your daughter Hoorvi for this bridge-to-luxury line?
At the moment we are two headstrong people doing our own things.... I am very clear about the way I work and so is she. She has taken on her own path, freelancing as a stylist. So, she is not a part of the brand yet, but I am praying and hoping that at some point she gets into the brand because she’s got the core and the DNA... and she would be a worthy successor. Let’s just see what happens. She contributes to styling JJ Valaya campaigns.
Speaking to you, one gets a feeling that you have achieved homeostasis, but do you still get overwhelmed looking back at your journey?
There is one fundamental law... in the course of time I became a brand from an individual and then the brand is the champion. After that, whether I am there or not around, the brand continues. My whole thought process became focused towards the brand. Yet, since it is a personal link to the brand, there can be no disparity, but all I know is that as long as I get to enjoy what I do, this is a process I wouldn’t trade for anything else. I was studying to be a chartered accountant and then moved to fashion. It was a tough decision at a time when there was no fashion industry in India and then to actually by God’s grace grow and evolve and then become a trusted name, are my blessings and I cherish my blessings every single day. I am as excited as I was working on my graduation collection at NIFT, as I am on my current collections. To me nothing has changed. It’s one collection after another... there is never a dull moment. If you can rekindle spiritual insight, there is no bigger boon than being able to explore in the creative world.
When did you let go of your ego?
All of us have egos. I was fortunate to have a spiritual master about 22 years ago and that completely changed my life. I now have the real definition of life... you tend to become a spectator of your own life and look at it from the outside.