JJ Valaya’s Bolshoi Bazaar collection showed us what matryoshka dolls might look like in lehengas – with tinted lips, super-blushed cheeks and fluttery lashes. The inspiration? Bits and bobs from Russia, like the Czar’s jewels, ikats, and the onion domes of Moscow.
One spotted embroidered peplum tops, appliqué lehengas, tulle veils and layered tulle skirts, fringed mojris, and digital printed florals and ikats. And lots of velvet mixed in for good measure.
With Valaya, grandeur is a given. But then he sent some familiar dapper men down the runway; the kind that only seem to get better with age – Peter D’Ascoli and Samar Jodha – and the crowd erupted with applause.
The show was also where the Kindle Voyage was officially launched. So as we got to the finale, a genius marketing manager somewhere was terribly pleased with himself. A throng of Valaya-wearing young girls walked out – Kindle Voyages in hand – to spell out Bolshoi Bazaar on their mini LEDs. Pointlessly cute, but we’ll take it!
Click here to check out the complete collection
Photographs: Gulshan Sachdeva
