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CFW Day 1

Feb 24 2016.

Day one of the Colombo Fashion Week 2017 (CFW) kicked off with the ‘Emerging Designers’ show on the 23rd of February at Park Street Mews. The show was a mix of monochrome and pastels with a splash of colour from a collection or two.

There were a few noteworthy collections that were distinct from the others; Anushika Perera’s casual wear linen silhouettes, Tilini Perera’s eco friendly clothing made from actual bamboo and Nayani Fernando’s Manchester inspired grey and black themed collection embodying Plato’s ideas of simplicity were a few that was highlighted during the show.

However, the stand out designer of the day was Angelina Seneviratne, whose collection ‘Ghantav’ displayed a sophisticated collection which highlighted her maturity since her first outing back in the Emerging Designers Show 2015. Her line inspired by oil and ink on water presented batik prints in bold hues including a daring luminescent yellow green adding a wow factor to her collection.

Ghanatv by Angelina Seneviratne

Angelina, 35, majored in Fashion Design at AOD in 2002. She launched her label ‘Curves’ in 2005 and has showcased collections in casual, work, evening and beachwear. “Absolutely excited for each CFW show. This time even more, as we are to meet the buyers to widen our retailing. My collection was inspired by the appearance of oil bubbles in water.”

Metamorphosis by Anushika Perera

In her last year at University of Moratuwa studying Fashion Design and Lifestyle Accessory Design, Anushika, 23, debuted her collection under the label MOJO.

“It’s been a dream really. I wanted to showcase at CFW one day and here I am today! I love the enthusiasm that surrounds the event!My collection is more related to the beach and resort areas, which is convertible into two or three forms of silhouettes”

Escape by Azzraa Thaarick

Azzraa, 25, is returning for the third time at the Emerging Designer showcase.
“A lot of hard work has gone into preparing this collection.It's about an escape from the chaotic and same old everything.”

Tried and Dyed by GEDI ROUTE (Mehar Bedi)

A high street fashion label with elements of punk, bohemian and androgyny GEDI ROUTE was envisioned in 2013, and started by Gurmehar Bedi in Chennai. The designs are heavily concentrated on prints and colour blocking.
“We are truly humbled and excited to be a part of the show. The collection consists of casual elegant silhouettes on extensively dyed fabrics for the fierce modern woman.”

Shade Shifting by Nipuni Silva

A student of University of Moratuwa, Nipuni, 24, is in her second year in Lifestyle Accessories.

“I am excited to be a part of this. I’m looking forward to the exposure and experience.My collection is an accessory line for casual wear. It has a very basic colour pallet with navy blue accents.”

Honest-to-Goodness by Vathsala Gunasekara

Studying at the Universtiy of Moratuwa, Vathsala, 25, brings her label “Chava” that is inspired by bohemian chic styles and textures. The collection is enriched with an earthen colour palette.

“I am very excited about this great opportunity as this is my debut collection under my own brand”

WANDERLUST by Rashmi Yashodya

Launching her label for her first time, Rashmi Yashodya, 25, is an alumnus of ANC.Her label “Rei&Rai” specialises in casual ladies wear.

“This is the first time I’m showing my line at the CFW show. The collection is inspired by the story of Alice in Wonderland. It's a collection of floral and monochrome patterns merged as one”

Hasintara by Tilini Perera

An alumnus from Raffles Institute, her work is inspired by the texture of bamboo and colours of nature

The Platonic Life by Nayani Fernando

Her second time at the Emerging Designer show, Nayani, 23, is a BA(Hons) fashion design graduate from the University of Salford, Manchester.

“CFW is a great platform for emerging designers because it discovers new talent and gives you the necessary exposure.

The collection was inspired by theAncientGreekphilosopherPlato’sbook,TheRepublic.Hebelievedthat intheideal city, people live peacefully, productively, and content, with no knowledge of luxury; they are barefoot and wear basic tunics made of natural fibres, replacing it only when it is completely worn away.”

Juxtapose

A collaboration by Indi and Charlene, Juxtapose introduces a new venture to the fashion industry. The brand caters to the high-end retail market with simple sophisticated styles dressed in colourful creative artwork done by children with special needs in a school named Navodaya.

Comments

Ajai Vir Singh, President and Founder

It was the first day of the Emerging Designers and we are very excited because that’s the next generation. We spent a lot of time and resources in developing them and it’s very satisfying when you see something like that happening. We have three more days to go, so lots of fun! Very exciting times for the fashion and style industry.

Dirk Flamer Caldera, Director

It’s a really good start. I thought the designers were really good. We are making a special emphasis on the models this time as well. We are trying to upgrade the models and the standard of the models so we’ve been really working hard on that as well. And I think we succeeded for today’s show. I felt that the show was excellent and it keeps getting better and better.

Prasad Bidapa, Director

I think it’s showing how fast fashion matures in Sri Lanka when young designers start doing such a sure job. They are so self-assured. And for me, seeing these clothes, I felt that many of them could start selling immediately. So I’m telling them, just start getting the clients in and making beautiful clothes for them and soon you’ll be in the store!

Designer Comments

JUXTAPOSE

It went quite well. It was for a reason that we are on the Emerging ramp today because we are launching the collection to the market. There’s a huge story behind it. We’ve used the artwork of kids with Down Syndrome and all this is the outcome they give us and we’ve used our designer knowledge, put it together and made garments from it. We’ve always had this in our minds and finally it’s on the ramp.

Tilini

It’s a great opportunity for me to show because this is my first time presenting and I’m really happy with what came out. I was inspired by bamboo and CFW pushed me to go forward with my collection and I’m really happy about it.

Guest Comments

Duminda

Very refreshing.

Nigel

I think we have a lot of talent to showcase in Sri Lanka and I hope we continue to foster the younger generation to come up with new designs.

Shahen

It was really good to see all the new designers coming up with some interesting concepts, like the fabric from bamboo and getting children to design and putting that print on the clothing so it’s a really interesting concept which I think they can continue in the future.

Kulani

Actually for me, the best was Metamorphosis. It was interesting and this is my first time and I really liked it.

Rafael

It was very interesting to see designers from Sri Lanka because we are from Berlin, Germany. We have a very different approach; we were also fashion students once so it was quite interesting to see what fashion students here do. Were we impressed with it? It’s a yes and no. Yes, we were because it’s always different what students from other countries do but at the same time it’s interesting to see how different the approach from a school is; one is culture and the other one is the education.

Maria

I think it’s really interesting how the people here are focusing on flowy fabrics whereas in Europe it’s about cuts and tailoring. I was questioning myself if it’s about the traditional clothing. It’s really interesting and it’s interesting to see the venue here. I wasn’t expecting something so professional!

Anjul