“Instagram ensures that I have a store in every country of the world, but to experience true luxury one has to come here.”
By here, he means his newly opened 12,000 square feet World of Valaya store at JW Mariott in New Delhi’s Aerocity. In the making for over two years, it offers a full spectrum of the designer’s personality on display: clothes, antique collectibles and his experiments with black and white photography.
“Today tech is very important, and we do intend to sell virtually as well, but a luxury buying experience is still best experienced in an old-school retail setting,” says Valaya. To begin with, a distinct fragrance of jasmine permeates each room, underlining the designer’s conviction that a luxury buying experience is not just fabrics, workmanship or price points: it must tantalise and convince the buyer’s every sense.
