JJ Valaya blends fashion, art and history at Delhi exhibition

Held at Travancore Palace on Monday, Valaya’s presentation brought fashion into dialogue with art history, colonial memory and cultural inheritance, aligning with the exhibition’s exploration of light as a shared yet contested legacy between India and the Netherlands.

Curated by Myna Mukherjee, the exhibition examined light as a cultural inheritance shaped by migration, empire and memory, tracing artistic lineages from European painters such as Rembrandt and Vermeer to Indian artist Raja Ravi Varma, and extending these ideas into contemporary practice.

Valaya’s couture showcase was conceived as a collaborative response to the exhibition, drawing on archival textiles and historic silhouettes influenced by centuries of trade and cultural exchange.

The collection featured traditional womenswear, including flared and embellished lehengas and saris, crafted with embroidery, floral motifs and zardozi work.

The outfits were primarily made using velvet and silk, with some ensembles incorporating geometric structures and animal applique.

The highlight of the showcase was the layered construction of each look, with no ensemble presented as a single standalone outfit.

The Delhi-based designer paired garments with coats, kaftans and scarves, creating multi-piece silhouettes. The colour palette comprised shades of gold, orchid, red, emerald and brown, among others.

“I like the fact that I could today break protocol and combine things, like put a jacket of another outfit with a lehenga of another.. We just layered and went all the way and had fun,” Valaya told PTI.

About the exhibition, the designer said it was quite to see three different discplines fashion, art and curation come together in a single event.

“I mean it is phenomenal because eventually a lot of the work we create is absolute museum quality and then it has to be kind of appreciated that way as well. So the event was beautifully put together, getting all these disciplines, I think, is a first,” the designer said.

The exhibition was viewed by a cultural delegation from the Netherlands, including directors of the Mauritshuis Museum and the Drents Museum, along with senior cultural diplomats.

“Inheritances of Light, Geographies of Loss” featured installations and works by artists including Arpana Caur, Ranbir Kaleka, Seema Kohli, Shilo Shiv Suleman, Raghava KK, Fearless Collective, Paul Beumer and Phillip ‘Swede’ Hickok, alongside selected works by Raja Ravi Varma from a private collection.

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