JJ VALAYA

Born October 8 in Jodhpur, India, JJ Valaya, one of India's most celebrated designers, has come a long way from his days of auditing banks in India. Growing up in an Army family, JJ and his two older brothers were raised by their parents in various cities across India.

Born October 8 in Jodhpur, India, JJ Valaya, one of India's most celebrated designers, has come a long way from his days of auditing banks in India. Growing up in an Army family, JJ and his two older brothers were raised by their parents in various cities across India.

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His creative sensibilities were apparent at an early age when he would unabashedly fill the last pages of his schoolbooks with sketches and doodles and remained the best artist and calligraphist in his school for five years in a row. Despite the common notion that he attended fashion school as his foremost chosen career, he actually did his Bachelors in Commerce at a Chandigarh College followed by an 18-month stint in Chartered Accountancy, and finally dropped out to pursue fashion.