Grand Opening, Aamby Valley India Bridal Week, JJ Valaya

Aamby Valley India Bridal Week kick started yesterday with the Grand opening show by JJ Valaya.

Story Behind the Show

The show told a story of a grand conglomeration of royals at a reception to welcome the Maharaja and his daughter, the princess, from their adventures in Spain. 

The Maharaja, in turn, a devoted believer of India and its wonders, and now also fascinated by all things Spanish is keen to showcase his newfound inspirations.


The Show

JJ Valaya instead of sticking to the normal runway had a setup made by Scenographer Sumant Jayakrishnan in such a way that there were tiny lounges instead of front rows.

The guest sat around little tables with wine and Hors d'œuvre, a look that resembled a royal garden party, surrounded by royally dressed models.

 

The show started more than an hours late but the wait seemed worth it. The shows opening was denoted with a horn blow, announcing the arrival of the Maharajah's ship, this was followed by a jugal-bandi between kathak dancers and a flamingo dancer.

Bridal Inspiration from the dancers :

Look at that latkan! Love how even that looks jeweled...
The dancers dresses were very simple made out of simpler fabrics, but there was a lot of jewelry that brought out the wow factor.

Mehendi or sangeet anyone?
Keep the dress simple and the jewelry a statement, quite possible in Indian wear too. (I thought it only worked well for LBD)

Silver + Stone necklace with red earrings.

This look actually solves the problem of finding matching stuff. Buy one neutral necklace like this and team it up with similar looking earrings.  So one necklace can help create looks for reds, blues, blacks, greens,etc. etc.

Section 1, that followed the dance, was inspired by Spanish fans and headgears combined with the elegant grandeur of Indian jewels.

Section 2 inspired by Huge fringed shawls, known as “Mantón de Manila” depicted flowers in varied hues and sizes. In harmony with the Indian Jamawar.

Section 3 shows the work of Diego Rivera, a Mexican artist known for his exquisite murals combined with the unrivalled beauty of Indian Miniature art.

Section 4. A collection inspired by battle…by the armors of Spain and India, a collection that plays with modern shapes and forms using metallic transfers and fine metal embroideries. Velvets, Tulles and georgettes hold court in lush burgundies and distressed greys.

Section 5. The final collection stands inspired by perhaps what Spain is best associated with; the bullfighters, also known as the Toreros, and commonly as matadors. Their flamboyant costumes find an unusual mate in the unique forms of Thewa jewelry and digitally printed Matka silks.

Section 6. The Bride. 

Pictures from the collection

This was an Assymetrical Anarkali

This was my most favorite garment among all, of the day.
(you can see the full look in the first picture, its the garment in the middle)

Indrani Das Gupta looks like a regal queen even in normal cloths!
I wish that man would have sat down, it would have been a perfect picture.As for the lehenga, me likes :D

I find this garment very cheeky,
 like the boy couldn't decide between Indian and Western Wear so he did a bit of both.
or
like he couldn't bother to dress up for a wedding so he just threw on an Indian coat over his work wear.

The guy in red on the right is wearing a kalidar kurta, its a nice option for guys to wear something different on one of the occasions than just going sherwani's  on the wedding, kurta on the mehendi and western on engagement.

Show Stopper

At the end of the show the Maharaja steps out of his ship and its non other than Kabir Bedi, a huge cheer goes up in the crowd, hooting and claps all around. You can see how thrilled, embarrassed and happy he is to be there.

Sitting there in the crowd it really felt like a king had come greeting his 'jaanta'.

And then entered the princess Kangana Ranaut dressed in a glittery lehenga, that sparkled like it had tiny jewels on it.

Know your designer

1. J J Valaya is short of Jagsharan Jeet Singh Ahluwalia,

2. He was born on October 8, 1967 in the state of Rajasthan in India but spent most of his childhood traveling to different parts of the country due to his father's various postings in the Indian Army. 

3. He studied commerce at college and planned to be a chartered accountant eventually. But his passion for beautiful things and fixation for the rich Indian art and culture took him to the National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi (NIFT) where he graduated in fashion design in 1991.

4. He trained under a pioneer in Indian fashion Rohit Khosla, before starting his own label. The ‘House of Valaya’ was founded in 1992 by brothers TJ Singh and JJ Valaya with the launch of its couture label, JJ Valaya. 

5. JJ Valaya is a founding member on the Board of Governors of the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), and was the first official brand ambassador for Crystal giant, Swarovski.

I couldn't help but notice this cute heart shaped cuff-link on JJ Valaya's shirt!

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Press Con

At the press conference afterwards Kabir Bedi summed it perfectly when he said

 " JJ Valaya makes me feel like a Maharaja, I want to take this garment home!"