ICW 2026: JJ Valaya Charts a Journey Through Culture and Couture

For his latest couture outing, JJ Valaya looked beyond fashion's familiar references, drawing instead from the layered history of India's Siddi community. Titled Siddi, the collection took its cue from the movement of people and cultures across continents, exploring how identity evolved over time. Rather than recreating the community's attire or visual codes, Valaya used the idea of cultural exchange as a conceptual framework, filtering it through the House's established language of couture.

The result was a wardrobe that moved between bridal and ceremonial dressing, with lehengas, saris, anarkalis, sherwanis and bandhgalas rendered in the designer's characteristically opulent style. A palette of antique gold, ivory, noir, champagne, jewel tones and earthy neutrals grounded the collection, while zardozi, aari and dori embroidery, metallic threadwork and crystal embellishment provide its tactile richness. Geometry, surface ornamentation and precise tailoring remain central to Valaya's visual vocabulary, offering continuity even as the inspiration shifts.

Among the collection's defining pieces is a couture reinterpretation of the House's signature Shifting Leaves Chevron motif. First created for his daughter Hoorvi's wedding before finding its way onto the runway, the design was revisited in black, beige and metallic tones. Restrained in colour but intricate in execution, it stood as one of the collection's most personal expressions and marks a notable moment in the evolution of the House's archives.

"Siddi began with the idea of a journey, one that crossed oceans, geographies and centuries before creating an identity entirely its own. I was fascinated by the Siddis of India and by this extraordinary confluence of African origins with the many cultural influences absorbed over generations on the Indian subcontinent. But this is not a literal interpretation of a community or its dress. It became a meditation on movement, memory and identity, and on the ways cultures evolve as they travel. Through the vocabulary of the House of Valaya, SIDDI translates those ideas into a contemporary couture narrative of embellishment, colour, texture, geometry and ceremony," said Valaya.