Suvindili’s ‘Limited Edition’ unique wearables
Setting-up shop just four months ago at Liberty Plaza, new comer to the shopping complex is Suvindili Fernando’s store, Limited Edition.
“Costume Jewellery doesn’t need to be cheap,” according to Suvindili who started-out quite young in her appreciation for all things shiny.
Crediting her father who travelled excessively with “great taste,” her love for jewellery took root as a girl, bringing back each trinket from various stops he made en route. Today at 24 she curates the carefully arranged pieces under her store’s custom made showcases.
Neatly hanging off mounted display panels or nestled against pristine white, ‘LE’ as the fans call it, poses quite convincingly as an ultra-modern yet ordinary jeweller.
Plunging gold prices and the fast-paced trends of the fashion world have always signalled to LE’s proprietor that “the idea that gold jewellery is the only kind” of worth is a misconception.
Experience however, has taught her with enough determined composure, misconceptions can be turned around. “I wasn’t bad at studying” she feels, coming from a strong academic culture at Visakha Vidyalaya, “I did commerce for my A Levels, and got through.”
Recalling that she was always ready to push existing trends she wanted to pursue interior design. Steeped in tradition, job security was her parents’ well-meaning plan for Suvindili who is currently a final year CIMA student. “They didn’t understand what I wanted.”
Pix by Amila Gamage
The hard part was “figuring out what I wanted,” in the first place. Starting with just an online store three years ago, Limited Edition has remained her priority, after she jumped into a job straight after A Levels.
“I worked at a shipping firm,” she said of her first job “I felt lost.” A sense of a lack of purpose hung around simply because she wasn’t enjoying the job, regardless of being good at it.
Deciding to combine her love for jewellery with her background in finance, operations started with her father being Limited Edition’s first international buyer.
Constantly checking emails to fine-tune his selection, “I neatly packaged it and sold it.” Today delivery and packaging have been outsourced.
Not long ago however, in between lectures and office hours many hours of sleep have been sacrificed as she handled each step even postage, sometimes resorting to “begging my father to drive me around making deliveries after work,” she recalls.
A small staff of five is all it takes to set the LE cogs in motion. Her stint in the corporate scene has been enlightening as to what not to do as boss.
Taking her staff for granted, even in the tightest of schedules isn’t an option “appreciation like saying thank you and recognising effort they put in is so important.”
In fact, we’re told LE would have remained a virtual venture if not for her strongly supportive team which encouraged her to move-in to the first floor shop at the mall when the opportunity presented itself.
Suvindili
There’s only so much left to suppliers, “you need to choose carefully” before importing. Not all trends take-off here, and some take some time to make their way into local hearts.
Replicating “what other online sellers are bringing down” isn’t the LE philosophy. Only minimal, elegant pieces that Suvindili would be happy to flaunt herself make the cut.
Perhaps a little more focussed since she quit her job four months ago, in devotion to the store things have not gotten easier. “I start my day early,” we’re told.
Catching some exercise first she pops-in to the store before customers walk in. After this ritualistic stop at Liberty Plaza, her morning starts behind a computer, studying trends, checking-up on orders and getting encouraging posts from delighted customers.
Positive feedback was the only encouragement for the longest time she shares, profits were generally re-invested.
We had some trouble finding the store, it being our first visit. Somehow we missed the Limited Edition logo on the door, which it’s devoted online following for the past three years hasn’t.
Dropping-in to pick up a piece they saw on the LE website or just to browse, Suvindili’s evangelical individuality in fashion is slowly catching on. “It’s like the Facebook post” she says – “Be you, everyone else is already taken.”
Find LE at No. 1/34U First Floor Liberty Plaza (look for the beanbag store, near the staircase.) You can find them online at www.limitededition.lk
