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Designs on food, the fashionable way
High Priest of Fashion, JJ Valaya enjoys the sumptuous fare on offer at Radisson Hotel's I'Ching restaurant in New Delhi . Photo: Sandeep Saxena.
HIS INITIALS don't have a pause in between and so is the man himself. Portly JJ Valaya is in fast forward mode these days, as after returning from a historic trip to Karachi, the High priest of High Fashion is busy giving final stitches to his collection for Lakme India Fashion Week (LIFW) beginning July 18. Amidst the taxing schedule of cuts and slits he took out some designer moments to leaf through a fortune of food at I'Ching, the Chinese restaurant of the Radisson Hotel in New Delhi. Named after the Chinese book of fortune telling, the place finds a high place in the list of Valaya's eating jaunts.
"I am a regular visitor here because of the ambience and food," he remarks, pushing Chefs Pornchai and Lam Yuk Lun to put their best stick forward to please the discerning guest.
Starting the oriental voyage from squid and raw mango salad with steamed chicken dumplings, this son of an army officer goes nostalgic, "I was born in Jodhpur, but soon we shifted to Chandigarh. The army background helped in inculcating a sense of discipline, which has played a crucial role in what I am today." But his chubby figure negates the victual discipline. "See, I was not a pampered child but yes, I was a well looked after child. I have always been fond of good lifestyle and both food and fashion are ingredients of it."
With the arrival of minced prawns with mushroom soup the journey shift gears towards his work and collection for LIFW. "I dream of style, whether in my designs or life but I have consciously avoided loud trends in colours and cuts and instead chosen to concentrate on timeless elegance," says the man known for his lavish trousseau collections across the frontiers. In the LIFW, he will showcase his diffusion label Studio Valaya, a more affordable version of his couture label JJ Valaya.
"This time in LIFW in the women's wear the focus is on strong femininity and not on romanticism. The churidars give way to churi pant. Faux fur has been blended with denim and faux leather teams up with silk. The colour palette is sprinkled with emerald and royal blue, yellow, red and orange. The flash of colours is balanced by the signature Valaya embroideries, this time in beads, dori, pearl and crystal in sync with custom developed prints." And what should the men expect from the style guru. Munching Chicken Red Thai Curry, he informs, "There are plenty of options in the form of modern stripped cashmere sweaters, laser embossed denims, embroidered Jodhpur jackets and sherwanis in sophisticated colours with traditional handicrafts. Overall, the aim is to knock off the ossified conservative look while retaining the Indian spirit."
As Thai curry gives way to Shanghai style braised bean curd, the chat switches borders to Pakistan, where the stitching sovereign displayed his bridal collection with two of his colleagues for the first time since Partition. "It was an honour to be a part of the first designers showing in Pakistan. Both countries share similar crafts besides histories and people. It is crucial today to find as many ways possible to create healthy people to people contacts in the subcontinent and fashion could play a role as it doesn't acknowledge man made boundaries."
Now as spinach with black mushroom makes an appearance on the table, one flexes the inquisitive buds to ask about the Indian designers long drawn romance with couture and high price tags and their indifference towards the burgeoning Indian middle class market. "It is a natural evolution process worldwide. The couture slowly gives way to diffusion followed by pręt a porter. In India we are early and one of the reasons that in LIFW we show only diffusion and pręt lines is the will of designers to tap the Indian salaried class." One has to take his word, as he is associated with the Indian fashion and LIFW since its inception and has recently signed Ernst and Young as consultants for his pręt collection.
Valaya rues that now he doesn't get much time to freak out. "When I was at NIFT in 1989, there were only one or two discotheques in the Capital and we had to play interesting tricks to get in but now, when I have honorary membership of almost all, I don't get time." He adds, "But on Sunday I make it a point to spend the day with the family and have Ma ke haath ka khana, which is better than even Chinese or for that matter every cuisine."
With fried ice cream as dessert, Valaya shares his success sketch for life: Always go for the gold. No explanation needed, the opulence in his dimensions and designs elucidates it all.
ANUJ KUMAR
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