Cutting out a difference

Kanchana’s dream is to make Sri Lanka’s fashion industry on par with vibrant international standards

She steps out of the Starlet in a hurry, hair flying, arms full of bags and a gleam in her eye. What strikes me is the black and white checked top she's wearing. The fluorescent pink appliquéd flowers set it off brilliantly. She is obviously not afraid of wearing something different.

When she entered the "Dress Designer of the Year" competition organized by the Cinnamon Gardens Lions' Club sponsored by Pugoda Textiles in 1990 Kanchana Thalpawila was only twenty-one. She did not expect to win six of the seven awards that were presented that night. Neither was winning them good enough to convince her friends and family that this was what she was destined to do. So she took an IT degree, then joined Law College, where she studied on and off from 1993 to 2004.

In the meantime, she continued in the field, working as a costume designer for many films including Prasanna Vithanage's 'Ira Madiyama' and Vimukthi Jayasundera's 'Maaruthaya'.

Kanchana describes her style as "very individual". Cotton and amu redde are her favourite fabrics to work with. "They suit the weather no!?" Exploring the traditional and tribal styles of Tibet, Peru and Fiji, she admires the sparing way in which the fabric is used and focuses her work also on saving fabric, often using just one continuous piece for a whole costume.

In 2004 Kanchana found herself on the way to London to pursue a post-graduate Certificate in Innovative Pattern Cutting from Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design. It was a "superb, superb programme," she reminisces. But she also adds that it was "ruthless" - if you did not match up to their standards, there was no mercy.

That is the kind of competition Kanchana faced during her training as a pattern cutter in London. Her biggest dilemma today, is that the Sri Lankan fashion community is not aware of the competition they are up against. She points out that India and China are hitting the international fashion market in a big way whereas Sri Lanka's fashion industry is still "pretty much only garment factories".

On her return, Kanchana began teaching at the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, at the Moratuwa University. "I liked teaching very much," she says, but adds that she now wants give students the kind of "amazing" experience she had a Saint Martin's. She says the students here leave with a "piece of paper" which says they are designers, but when they get to the business, they do not know how to "turn out" a 2D image into a 3D costume. "They have so much talent and vision, but they lack the basic technical know-how."

The fashion industry too, she says, is not developed enough to provide designers with the practice they need to face the international market. "We need more stylists, fashion journalists, and most importantly, critics."

Starting small with her own School of Design, Kanchana is now aiming to give students interested in fashion, a clear view of each possible option, be it styling, designing, journalism or criticism.

"I will begin with a course in pattern cutting, which will be carried out in three stages. The final stage will be based on the course I followed at Saint Martin's." The school will be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, specially ordered from London. The class, she says, will be very small; only ten students. She is not particular about qualifications or prior experience, only looking for "young students with passion" and who are "serious about clothes".

Her dream is to make the rest of society aware of what they want when it comes to clothes, so that designers are pushed, and the industry goes on par with the rest of the world. For more details, email info@aschooloffashionstudies.com