Designer Gihan Ediriweera first made waves when he was declared “Designer of the Year” at two different competitions in 2009. The young fashion designer has since begun designing under his label ‘G by Gihan Ediriweera’ and was featured this year at the Colombo Fashion Week and the subsequent Colombo Fashion Week (CFW) Resort Show as [...]

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The Sundaytimes Sri Lanka

A tropical fashion wave

With Mother Nature as his inspiration Gihan Ediriweera’s unique designs have earned him accolades and praise
from around the world
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Designer Gihan Ediriweera first made waves when he was declared “Designer of the Year” at two different competitions in 2009. The young fashion designer has since begun designing under his label ‘G by Gihan Ediriweera’ and was featured this year at the Colombo Fashion Week and the subsequent Colombo Fashion Week (CFW) Resort Show as well as at the Kochin Fashion Week.
His clothing line is distinctive – vivid colours paired with light flowing fabrics seem to reflect the hues of life on a tropical island. Gihan, who says he takes inspiration from mother nature, sees himself as a translator of the vibrant colours and artistic shapes in his environment.

Gihan with a model. Pic by Saaliya Thilakarathna

His work is currently on sale at Cantaloupe Boutique, Colombo and Ensemble stores in the Indian cities of New Delhi and Mumbai. What sets him apart as a designer is that he also creates his own fabrics. Working with techniques like dip dye and tie and dye, he says he only uses environmentally friendly dyes and fabrics made with natural fibre.

Being show cased in the Colombo Fashion Week events have been something of a turning point in his career and he hopes his collections will have found a platform which could bring them to the attention of the international market. Certainly, pieces from his collection at CFW 2012 found interested buyers from high end Indian fashion stores. The Kochin Fashion Week collection drew a similarly positive response and the designer felt confident that his collection was on par with what Indian designers had produced. With his designs selling well, Gihan hopes to make inroads in to that market.

Gihan says he owes his interest in fashion design to growing up in a family with four fashionable sisters. From the time he was a young boy, he found himself learning by simply observing what they wore and how they wore it. Today, he’s found other fashion icons like Yoland Aluwihare and Donna Karen – he particularly admires the way the latter drapes her clothes.
Gihan’s academic background includes merchandising courses in Textile Technology, Pattern Making at the Clothing Industry

Training Institute (CITI) and the Garment Industry Management Institute (GIMI). His work experience includes a 5 year stint at the Federated Merchandising Group, part of Macy’s departmental chain in U.S.A., and another six years at Liz Clairborne International. He would later study fashion design at the Lanka Institute of Fashion Technology (LIFT).
While he would like to be a full time fashion designer, Gihan knows he isn’t quite ready to strike out on his own. As a merchandiser with MAS Intimates (Pvt) Ltd and a father of two, he has to make a real effort to carve out the time.

Pic courtesy Kochin fashion week 2012 India

Pic courtesy Kochin fashion week 2012 India

His long days typically begin at 4:30am and end only at midnight, however his passion for fashion fuels him and he will often spend weekends working on his designs. He believes fashion designing is an art form and that the colours and free fall shapes he employs make his designs unique.




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