The decision to start my own label came after the flip of a coin,” says acclaimed fashion designer, JJ Valaya. This revelation stumps me when I meet him on a Friday afternoon at a five star hotel in Nariman Point.

“After our graduation, Ashish Soni and I were sitting on the steps of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) building and thinking about our next course of action. He asked me whether we should work together. I told him it was a bad idea. Then he asked me whether we should look for a job. I suggested that we flip a coin. Heads, we do our own thing and tails, we go and get a job. Fortunately, it was heads and that’s how we launched our own labels.