At the height of her fame, Dileni Weerakoone, aka Kukka was one of Colombo’s highly sought-after models. Her tall lissom frame was perfect to model fashion collections of the 80s. Lured by education and employment, Dileni was based in New York for several decades where she worked as a banker, and a restaurant owner and was known as a fashionista.  Dileni had always harboured a love for fashion and with the famous Fashion School Parsons being in New York, it was a natural progression for Dileni to enrol at Parsons and hone her skills in fashion design.  She diligently attended a variety of evening classes where she learnt the finer points of pattern making, pattern cutting and dressmaking.  Returning to the island, Dileni was intent on launching her own label Kukka v3 and her collections are now retailed exclusively at PR which is one of the city’s premier fashion destinations.

Speaking about the collection she launched for the season, Dileni describes it as being an exclusive festive collection where the pieces can be worn beyond the season by either dressing them up or down.  Those who follow the fashion scene will be aware that Dileni’s signature pieces are the voluminous tulle skirts which were inspired by Sarah Jessica Parker from the cult TV series Sex and the City. “Other than the brand signature tulle skirts and overlays in dreamy colours, the collection includes mini dresses which were inspired by 60s It Girl Twiggy. “We used contrast colours for the lining to bring out the embellishment on the fabric” she added.

Sticking to her safe formulae, in this collection too Dileni has used embellished tulle with sequins and has used applique to add value to the fabric and give it a uniqueness. She explains that she finds it a sheer joy to walk through the fabric stores in Manhattan in search of cut pieces in addition to finding brand pieces.  To her credit, Dileni’s creations fall into the category of one size fits most and while designing clothes for women she is acutely aware of hips, bust and shoulders measurements which are integral to ensure her designs have a perfect fit. Speaking about sizing, Dileni adds  “sizing is meaningless, they don’t measure up from brand to brand or country.  

Many of us feel we should fit ourselves into clothes, rather than having the clothes fit us.  The solution to this should be one size fits most. You can manipulate the shapes through various sewing techniques to fit all.  When making body contouring silhouettes there are various fabrics you can use so the silhouette fits you.” A firm believer in slow fashion, Dileni is keen to reassure her clientele that each piece is unique in colour and style.

Pix courtesy Kukka v3