Recycled chic
View(s):Three young designers showcase their versatility in ethical wear
By Duvindi Illankoon
Lonali Rodrigo is happiest when snipping away at industry castoffs. She plays with different textures-men’s trousers transformed into exquisite pants, cast off buttons made into statement pieces, label waste patch-worked into a garment, pyjamas transformed into a fashion statement that would next be spotted at a corporate function. …they’re almost 100% recycled garments, sustainable to boot.
Prabath: Happy to work with rural craftspeople
Nithya: Patiently promoting handloom denim
Lonali: A unique way with waste. Pics by Indika Handuwela
Sustainable was the catchphrase on everyone’s lips at the first ever local sustainable fashion retail launch held at Melache last week. Together with the Academy of Design, the store launched the 2013 Spring/Summer collections of three young designers at the helm of Sri Lanka’s ethical fashion. The labels Lonali, Nithya and Prabath Samarasooriya are built on the strong foundations of environmental and social consciousness, incorporating everyday natural fibres and recycling waste to create highly coveted designer wear.
“What we’re showcasing today is the strength of Sri Lanka’s design sustainability,” said Karen Macleod, Principal of the Academy of Design (AOD). “These three designers are former students of AOD who are part of our Venture Engine programme. We’ve created a space for them to design and expand their businesses.” The garments produced are 99% ethical and wearable, she adds wryly. “People have a silly impression of ethical wear; they think it’s for hippies. This couldn’t be further from the truth-if you come into Melache and have a look you’ll see that most of these garments are beautifully tailored and are versatile in their wearability.”
The three designers are well versed in the industry, despite their youth. Prabath, Nithya and Lonali have had their collections shown at the prestigious London Fashion Week’s International Fashion Show. “We got great feedback,” says Prabath, who worked with a community in heritage village Thalagune in Ududumbara, Kandy to produce his multi-functional collection. “The beauty of the material is that it can be manipulated to suit any occasion.”
Nithya Lamahewa has designed a collection entirely of something she calls ‘handloom denim’. The trousers, shirt dresses and bags prominent in the collection are complemented by a fabulous denim sari, which must be seen to be believed. “The labour cost in producing these garments are massive,” says Nithya who works with a handloom community in Gampaha. “But you’ve got to have a lot of patience and of course, the technical knowledge.”
For Lonali, it’s all in the castoffs. “As a major textile producer Sri Lanka has a huge amount of industry waste just sitting around-that’s terrible for the environment. I look at them and see an opportunity to produce unique designs, because no one cast-off is ever the same. So even if I design 20 pieces of the same design, they’ll never be perfect replicas of each other.”
Both Nithya and Prabath maintain that the most important part of their job is to uplift these secluded rural communities that they work so closely with. These communities are endowed with the technical knowledge, but often the traditionally family-oriented crafts die out because the producers are not aware of what the modern market needs. “There needs to be communication between these craftspeople and the market,” says Karen. “That’s where the designers step in.”
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