Arts
Selyn:Going beyond style
It was a show with a difference: Instead of the typical model, the ramp saw women of achievement, from entrepreneurs to activists, to lawyers and editors, even a heavily pregnant model. “We see ourselves when we look at the ramp,” was what most women at the event told Selyna Peiris, Director of Business Development at ‘Selyn’, as the brand’s newest initiative ‘Sthri by Selyn’, an ethical fashion collective, was launched on November 11 at the Park Street Mews.
Selyna Peiris and mother Sandra Wanduragala at the launch of ‘Sthri’
Selyna was evidently proud that the collection and the concept and its message resonated with so many women. It really was a true collaboration between women she says – the concept for the show conceived by Shanuki De Alwis’ ‘Vision One’, a marketing company which tied up with Selyn for the event.
“Sthri is not just fashion, but a social movement,” says Selyna, describing it as a platform where ethical fashion and brands sharing the same ethos of community and women’s empowerment are featured and powered by Selyn.
Ethical Fashion has been gaining momentum as consumers become more conscious of how their consumption affects the world at large. It’s essentially an approach to fashion, from design to sourcing to manufacturing, which aims to maximize the benefits society and the community receives, whilst minimising the impact it has on the environment.
Selyn was launched in 1991 by Selyna’s mother Sandra Wanduragala who set out to empower rural women in the Kurunegala District and this collective, Selyna’s brainchild, takes the brand a step further into the arena of women’s empowerment and social enterprise.
For Selyna who joined the company which was named after her, fulltime only this year, Sthri is an opportunity to build on her mother’s legacy. A lawyer by profession and an activist by nature, she envisions it as a platform for women’s issues and empowerment. The essence of feminism is giving women equal opportunity, and this platform has the potential to enhance livelihoods in a sustainable manner. “People have this misconception that giving a woman a job is empowerment,” she says explaining that in order for it to be sustainable you must ensure that the woman receives a constant flow of work, is paid fair wages, is provided good working conditions and financial advice. It isn’t a grant system, but rather a social enterprise model which enables women to better their circumstances whilst ensuring its sustainability.
Selyn looks at it from a holistic view, providing childcare facilities, reproductive education and financial education, to their 1,000 strong workforce. “When a woman buys from us she’s using her purchasing and economic power to empower another woman,” she adds.
Selyn is the only handloom company in the island that has been certified as a Fair Trade company and this was what attracted German-based Sri Lankan designer Arosha Rosenberger. An organic designer sourcing her material from around Europe, Arosha found to her great surprise she could only find one Fairtrade fabric supplier from the island. The more she learnt of Selyn the more adamant she became to work with them. Having met at a German trade show, Arosha is the first to collaborate with Selyna under their newest collective. “We work with those that share our ethos and passion,” says Selyna. Their collection ‘Tuschimo for Sthri’ marries global trends with conscious consumption and has been selected to showcase at New York’s Now exhibition.
A fashion show celebrating women: Some of the designs on the ramp at ‘Sthri’.Pix by Indika Handuwala
Currently the collective also features the brands Emerge and Salvage whose products are made by marginalized and abused women.
Still in the transition stage of taking over from her mother and uncle, the company has gone through a process of re-branding and change in organizational structure. “It needs to be a performance-driven company,” Selyna says. The results have been well worth the effort she says, and that is thanks to her team who bought into the idea that they were making more than just a garment.
Clients too seem to have bought into the concept, Seyna says, remarking on how social media has been abuzz about their unconventional fashion show. She hopes to implement the social enterprise model that has worked so well at Selyn to the rest of the craft industry in the island. Often invited to speak at National Craft Council events, she notes that the attitude of artisans against the commercialization of their craft could lead to the death of the craft. “You have to work it as if it’s any other business. You can’t have a handout mentality,” she says, explaining that most artisans do not understand their consumers.
However, the handloom and batik crafts have endured and are flourishing due to their innovation and their willingness to collaborate, an approach which can be adopted by other crafts as well, she feels. “We should make competition work for us. If we collaborate, we all grow together and we make the pie bigger,” Selyna adds.
Sthri by Selyn is now available at Selyn’s flagship store, at No. 102, Fife Road, Colombo 5, and will be available at the stores in Kandy, Negombo and Kurunegala shortly.
