Arts

Young flair at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week

By Sashini Rodrigo

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Highlighting the innovative design talent of the next generation of local and international fashion designers, who brought fresh and often visually challenging ideas to the runway in the Emerging Talent showcase, the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Sri Lanka kicked off in style at the Dimo 800 Mercedes-Benz Centre on Friday, October 26.

Maneesha Fernando. Pix by Priyantha Wickramaarachchi

Getting 34 collections runway-ready proved quite a challenge that meant a delayed start, but the show progressed at a rapid pace to compensate. First up was reputed AOD alumnus Amesh Wijesekera, with a preview of his Spring/Summer 2019 collection which will be featured at London Fashion Week’s International Fashion Showcase next year.

This was followed by Future Heritage, a cornerstone project by AOD Fashion where students combined traditional craft materials like beeralu, batik and handloom with international fashion trends in a curated collection that highlighted the potential for the future of Sri Lanka’s heritage craft.

The International Graduate Showcase followed with final graduate collections from international design schools and universities. The runway hosted students from prestigious institutions like Savannah College of Art & Design (Hong Kong), London College of Fashion, Amsterdam Fashion Institute (Netherlands) and Accademia Costume Moda (Italy).The curated collection presented eclectic and cutting-edge work ranging from the ultra-colourful exaggerated shapes of Arean Zhou from Gottelier Studio De Tao Masters’ Academy and Shanghai Institute of Visual Art (China) to the sleek minimalistic elegance of Peng Pang from Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee (Germany).

Next on the ramp were some of Sri Lanka’s upcoming designers and their brands, in the Emerging Talent segment. The showcase included the vintage chic of Donashi by Menushi Jayathilake, the structured flow of IKIGAI by Sandani Perera, embroidered couture from Natharlea by Natali Yahampath, sultry dark materials with pops of red from ANUM by Anum Dassanayake, bright iridescent shades by Thushie Jayasekera for Tink and the colourful holographic sparkle of Anuththara Rajapakse’s collection for Hirdaramani.

A particularly striking collection was the Victorian-inspired Donakhi by Akhila Liyanage, featuring Victorian-inspired silhouettes in elegantly constructed tulle with fresh roses as embellishments.

The final category for the evening was both the longest and most hotly anticipated – the AOD Graduate Fashion Showcase. 19 students from AOD Fashion’s graduating class of 2019 proudly presented their final collections to enthusiastic cheering from their peers, some in collaboration with local companies such as Anim8, Bobbin Group, Coats Thread, Dynawash and MAS Linea Aqua.

The overarching theme of Innovation Island was consistently represented by the young designers. A few standouts include:

Pabasari Kaluthanthri’s collection with the Bobbin Group, featuring dramatic flowing capes, jackets and gowns with traditional Sri Lankan bird motifs and striking plague doctor masks and Thamoda Wickramasinghe’s precisely tailored range that boasted understated glitz and tasteful tassle and embroidery work.

Punna Withanaarachchi, who was the judges’ selection this year to represent AOD at Graduate Fashion Week in London, presented her take on sporty couture with elements like 80s athleisure-inspired jackets and colourful mirror-embellished socks.

(Our cover picture shows a creation by Punna Withanaarachchi)