Favourite designer? What style advice have your Any advice for young people?
I don’t really have a favourite, nor am parents given you? Play with your style – it’s the only
I a slave to top end designer labels. My dad always said that a woman who time that you can rebel a bit and
However, I have some pieces from leaves a little to the imagination is far experiment. Creative expression is
Scandinavian designers such as Malene sexier than one who flaunts it. He said natural – there’ll be plenty of time to
Birger, Day, Birger et Mikklesen and he preferred a glimpse of a slim ankle get sensible about clothes when you
labels such as Noa Noa. Karen Millen or something backless rather than start work.
and Zara have pieces that make me frontless so to speak.
feel curvier and fit my frame perfectly. What’s your take on modern day
Some of my favourite styles of clothes My mum always notices men’s shoes fashion?
are only seen in Asian magazines so and my sister and I have developed that Really, designers just rehash the best
I tend to admire them from afar. same eye for detail. She has brought us bits of 20th century trends. The only
up to never let ourselves go and even if difference between the industry now
If money were no object… we have only a penny in our pocket to and since the mid 20th century is the
I’d have all my clothes bespoke made keep ourselves tidy enough that we cutting edge technology available to
by Phillipa, a designer in Monmouth - look like we’ve got much more. I think make clothes more comfortable.
she’s amazing. that comes from her experiences post
War where people took pride in Fashion isn’t as iconic nowadays;
Have you ever made any fashion themselves but were going through an Nothing mind-blowing has happened
faux pas? economic crisis. Also, that style is not since the padded shoulders of the
The whole of the 1980’s I reckon! just about how we look, it’s also how 1980’s and I can’t imagine what will
Actually I remember once going to we conduct ourselves – it’s all in the be remembered in the same way that
a medical conference with my father. detail and gestures. Just one thoughtful the mini skirt is for the 1960’s
One particular day, I stepped out with act can add to the style factor.
him in a posh frock with a donkey What type of clients look for you?
jacket over it. I was about seventeen We notice that you use two names Anyone who needs to redefine
at the time. He was horrified, so much Yes, I’ve always loved my Indian middle themselves or has lost touch with their
so that he took me straight to Howells name Jaya, which means Victory. sense of style or has got into a fashion
department store in Cardiff, bought My family surname Raghavan has been rut. In particular those people who put
me a brand new coat and then we the inspiration for a doctor’s character others first and believe that they are
went off to the function. He told me in the Welsh sitcom High Hopes. not worthy of looking their absolute
that I looked like I was wearing a The character is based on my father best. Style is so subjective because it is
coal miner’s jacket! which is quite amusing. Suzanne Jaya creative, but there is a science behind
has stuck with people because they it too in terms of adapting fabric, cuts
Favourite shops? find my last name unpronounceable and designs to an individual body type.
Too many to mention this time, but and as my dad has posthumously found
anywhere unusual, cosy, friendly fame on TV I’ve continued using Jaya There are some hard and fast rules too,
and with nooks and crannies, or with in my business name. particularly in the business/corporate
an opulent boudoir kind of feel to it. sector where professional wear still
I love shopping in Havana in Cowbridge Funniest moment with a client? needs to reflect industry traditions.
Bryl’s Boutique in Barry and Pink Zebra I was out shopping one day with a
in Llantrisant Old Town for their male client. He was sneakily checking I love the way that some simple
fabulous pieces, value for money himself out in a mirror as we left a changes can increase a client’s
and excellent customer service. shoe shop and had failed to see the confidence to the extent that they get
pile of shoe boxes in his way. Needless a new job, profit their business, a
“I want people to look
to say he went flying, bumped into a relationship or even rekindle the flames
pillar and a passing sales assistant. of an existing one. Basically, I just want
and feel the business!” He knows who he is! people to look and feel the business!
34❧ ❧
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68