The Face of KESS: Starting with the hair, of course
A woman’s crowning glory will always be her hair, both literally and in common speak. It’s no surprise then that when Vasantha De Silva of Salon KESS fame sought to find Sri Lanka’s next big modelling talent, he chose to start off with that particular aspect itself.
‘The Face of KESS’ was launched through Facebook sometime in April, to find just such a girl who could represent KESS and its message of beautiful, well maintained tresses to the world. Over 70 entries, some model trauma and six finalists later, they unveiled their gorgeous Face of KESS: 28-year-old Sam Dharmaratne.
Vasantha: The man behind KESS
For Sam, with her waist-length locks of wavy hair, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Having schooled at Musaeus College, she was employed in the airline industry. She’s no stranger to modelling, having done a few shoots and campaigns before.
“I’ve been coming to KESS for a while now, and it’s a great place,” Sam remembers. “When I saw the competition on Facebook, I thought why not, and emailed them with the details they wanted.”
The KESS campaign was launched and taken forward entirely through Facebook apt, as the country tunes into social media as the hot new marketing platform. “We were also targeting a more diverse audience,” adds Vasantha. “I didn’t want it to be just limited to Colombo– the point of this venture was to find faces and hair we could work with.” Unfortunately trends prevailed and most finalists were from here, he sighs, optimistically hoping for a better turnout next time around.
Expanding on the concept of ‘talent to work with’, Vasantha maintains that great beauty a supermodel does not make. “There are so many beautiful, beautiful girls here; but the thing is a lot of them can’t pose in front of a camera for the life of them! Sam has that flair, which is also part of the reason why she was chosen.”
The initial 70 were brought down to 20 by the judges including Vasantha and Chris Burgess, the London-based photographer flown in especially for the contest. These 20 young ladies were invited to Salon KESS for a chat and some introductions, which eventually helped the judges to decide on the finalists.
Kei Watanabe, Shehani Liyanage, Nadine Samarasinghe, Roshalie Fernando, Shanela De Livera and Sam, in the weeks that followed competed for votes on the Facebook page. “The decision eventually rested with us,” notes Vasantha. “Chris and I eventually decided who the best candidate for the task was.”
This was followed by a photo-shoot with Chris and Vasantha behind the scenes, while Sam was also rewarded with a cash prize. She will be the Face of KESS — until round two commences and an all-new face is chosen!
“I want people to really know about modelling,” says Vasantha. “A lot of people have a very narrow view of it. They have no idea exactly how hard these girls work to make it in the industry. And when our girls hit 24 they think they’re fat and too old. I mean, look at Sam!” Never too old to be beautiful.
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