Fashion designers in Sri Lanka hit by unethical retail stores
View(s):By Sunimalee Dias
Sri Lankan fashion designer labels have become intensely popular among customers – so much so that designs are picked up off the ramp when unveiled at the Colombo Fashion Week (CFW), now in its 10th year, and copied for sale in stores almost overnight!
Such is the popularity of CFW and its unique selection of designers meant to appeal to not simply Sri Lankans but also the larger international audience as well with most Indian buyers visiting Colombo to make early orders for their stores in India and the Middle East, the key man behind the show Ajai Vir Singh said during an interview with the Business Times on Tuesday.
He noted that prominent local retailers pick up designs from the young Sri Lankans designer labels and copy them for sale in their own stores before these very designer garments markets them.
This has caused concern among young designers looking for an outlet to display their talent that has even caused a stir internationally and Mr. Singh pointed out this to be “highly unethical.”
This level of intensity in the fashion business clearly showcased that local designers were now able to capture markets since they started out a decade back.
However, the designers are struggling to fight against large orders from buyers once the show ends since they do not manufacture a large number of pieces, Mr. Singh explained. This has resulted in a number of buyers dropping out but this year there would be four buyers from India and Switzerland present to pick from the local collection of designer wear.
Evolve, Kymaya, Ensemble and a Switzerland-based fashion store placed orders even before the show began and some have already left so they would be assured of pieces before the show ended on Friday (April 5).
Mr. Singh explained that designers were also facing a shortage of factories to produce their garments since most were keen on taking larger orders as a result of which quality is also seen to be dropping in these manufacturing outlets.
With at least 30 designers of Sri Lankan origin now retailing the fashion industry is evidently evolving and growing since the early days.
It was pointed out that since these designers only manufacture a limited number of garments price tags on their garments were relatively high.
Showcasing 21 Sri Lankan designers and nine foreign designers, both ends get the opportunity to highlight their talent and gain exposure on overseas trends and local creativity, all in one show on the CFW.
In fact, this year as well Agatha Ruiz de la Prada had especially flown in from Paris to Colombo for the event before heading off to another fashion destination. In addition designers Bibi Russell, Jason and Anshu, Juan Duyos, Niche de Gruiter and Ashish Rehman Pony also displayed their line of collection at the show.
Yolande Aluwihare, a renowned name in the local fashion industry, was picked for this year’s CFW as well with others being Arugam Bay, Amanda Weerasinghe, Amilani Perera, Arra, Avirate, Buddhi Batiks, Chruni Suriyage, Deneth Piumakshi, Fahad Sheriff, Sonali Dharmawardena, Dimuthu Sahabandu, Gihan Ediriweera, Upeksha Hager, Hameedia, Kasuni Ratnayaka and Ramona Oshini.
With more people taking an interest in the fashion industry including parents looking for opportunities to get their children placed in ideal environments to be exposed to the world of fashion would find in Colombo academies namely Academy of Design, Raffles from Singapore,
Lanka Institute of Fashion Technology and the University of Moratuwa.
The show has become more exciting with workshops carried out to provide a better perspective of the new age fashion and how to market your product in retail stores something that would be crucial in the coming days for those new entrants to the local designer market, Mr. Singh observed.
The workshop was conducted by Stefan Seigel, founder and CEO of NOT JUST A LABEL from the British Council during the CFW week.
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