It’s Autumn at Amante
No further back than a couple of decades ago women’s underwear did not make for polite conversation in Asian social circles. Mothers would hustle their adolescent daughters to shops to “quickly buy something” while the daughters in question cringed in mortification.
Sheepish fathers, boyfriends and husbands would hover uncertainly in the background.
A drive around Colombo and the suburbs today would reveal some telling signs that the underwear industry in the country is no longer under cover; billboards advertise inner garments for aesthetic appeal over functionality, ad campaigns encourage women to invest in quality products and the city has a number of shops dedicated solely to underwear and lingerie.
The times, they are a-changin’ and few have capitalized on this better than Amante, a home-grown brand of intimate wear that was introduced to Sri Lanka in 2012.
We met Gayani Gunawardena, Manager- Range Management and Communication for Amante and Laksith Malalagama, Assistant Manager Design at the main Amante boutique at Racecourse.
This Amante boutique is pure indulgence; the shop occupies a large area on the ground floor of the grandstand and was designed to encourage customers to step in and spend time browsing the various collections that the boutique carries.
The latest designs fresh off the Amante design board can be found at this store.
We are here to have a look at the Amante Autumn/Winter line for 2015. Since its inception the brand has released a minimum of three collections every year. The Autumn/Winter line was preceded by a pre-Fall collection and before that the Spring/Summer line.
The latter was a fun, flirty affair in cheerful shades of blue, yellow and pink. The latest A/W collection is a more glamorous affair; titled ‘Moonstruck’ the pieces characterized by dark, shimmery materials studded with rhinestones and occasionally embroidered with lace.
The concept of seasons for underwear and lingerie is a fairly recent one, popularized by designer brands in Europe and the States. Traditionally underwear has been less trend-led and made at a slower pace than clothing.
Now, underwear (lingerie in particular) has evolved to match the breadth and seasonal appeal of mainstream clothing brands.
Labels like Beladona, Benetton, Roberto Cavalli and Calvin Klein all release seasonal collections (and, like Amante, sometimes even inter-seasonal collections) to appeal to a growing fashion-conscious customer base.
“Customers who walk in to our stores are much more informed than they were before,” says Gunawardena. “They know what they want and sometimes even what trends are in at the moment, so we’re catering to that market with these seasonal collections.”
On trend for A/W 2015 are darker hues, embellishments and whimsical prints. Amante wields two of these trends for its new collection-the deeper hued colours on luxurious fabrics and bling in the form of rhinestones.
While the brand differs itself from local competitors by designing underwear that caters specifically to the Asian body type, the trends are largely decided by markets and fashion houses in Europe and the US, says Malalagama.
Gunawardena recommends that you get yourself measured when you walk into an Amante store-“our sizes may be slightly different to other brands,” she says.
Amante was first launched in India in 2007, where it enjoys growing popularity and a significant market presence.
The Autumn/Winter 2015 collection is available in both India and Sri Lanka.