All set for a weekend trip to the beach
Fashion Week Colombo organisers and partners at the news conference. Pic by Priyantha Wickramaarachchi
Fashion Week Colombo, presented by Olu Tropical Water, is back this July and will take place at Colombo’s Shangri-La Hotel, showcasing swimwear and resort wear under a responsible fashion theme. This will be the 4th Fashion Week under this edition.
To be held from July 4-7, Fashion Week Colombo aims to position Sri Lanka as the resort-wear capital of the world as well as create a global platform for sustainable swimwear and resort-wear.
The objective of Fashion Week is to holistically uplift Sri Lanka’s fashion design industry to showcase Sri Lanka as an expert hub for swimwear and a platform for luxury resort-wear, while creating a relevant tourism story with sustainability as the core. On that note, a Responsible Fashion Summit will take place on the first day of Fashion Week Colombo, where eight impact areas will be discussed – areas such as how in Sri Lanka both the designers and manufacturers are in the same locality so it is that much easier for Sri Lanka to holistically create sustainable and responsible fashion.
Considering Sri Lanka’s biggest attraction for many visitors are its stunning beaches, this collection is essentially what a person would pack for a weekend trip to the beach– daytime swimwear and night-time resort-wear.
“Luxury resort-wear is a new growth category which includes swimwear and resort-wear. This position also showcases Sri Lanka as a destination. With this edition we continue to push the benchmark for the Sri Lankan fashion industry to find its place in the world of fashion. This is the 15th year of Colombo Fashion Week and with every passing year we will strive to go higher for Sri Lanka,” said Ajai Vir Singh, Founder of CFW.
“Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo is very happy to partner with a movement that celebrates 15 years in the world of fashion and has revived the fashion industry to further fashion development in Sri Lanka,” says Timothy Wright, Vice President and General Manager of Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo. The Grand Ballroom as well as an area overlooking the Beira Lake are two locales that were announced, and many other venues in the hotel will be used too, he said.
Several luxury resort and international swimwear brands will be taking the stage at Fashion Week Colombo. Fashion followers can look forward to seeing brands such as Aviva, Heidi Klein Swim, We are Handsome, Hot-As-Hell and Zalando on the ramp.
The 12 Sri Lankan designers and brands who will be showing their collections are Pigeon Island, Conscience, Maus, Meraki, Sonali Dharmawardena, Charini Suriyage, Aqua Island, Sea Sand, Koca, La Pard, Rumpunch and Linea Aqua.
In addition, seven new designers will be presenting their swimwear and resort-wear at the Emerging Designer Showcase, a platform for new talent to enter the fashion industry. The young designers have been carefully guided through the Colombo Fashion Week creative process.