Swim Week to make a bigger splash
“This will be the biggest that we have done,” Founder and Managing Director of Colombo Fashion Week (CFW) AjaiVir Singh said at the launch of Celebrate Colombo and CFW Swim Week Colombo 2019.
CFW Swim Week Colombo is back for its fifth year celebrating the Swim and Resort season and this year will also include a week of creativity that brings together the four creative industries of art, fashion, food and music under one banner, ‘Celebrate Colombo’.
Ajai Vir Singh at the launch. Pic by Amila Gamage
The festival presented by So Sri Lanka and the Sri Lanka Tourism and Promotion Bureau will take place from August 3 to 10, along with the Swim Week Colombo runway shows that will take place from August 8 to 10. Celebrate Colombo is a destination promotion tourism-based event that aims to enhance travellers’ experience by giving them more to enjoy in Colombo.
Ajai said this will be an on-ground demonstration from a creative point of view, that there is a return to normalcy. “It’s time to also celebrate what we have and know how we can build the country up moving forward.”
Events held as part of Celebrate Colombo will include the ‘One Won’ Art Exhibition on August 6 at The Stables at Park Street Mews featuring 40 Lankan artists, who will collaborate on one canvas under the theme ‘One Won’.
A Food Festival will also be hosted by partner restaurants and hotels including Park Street Mews, Dutch Hospital, Shangri-La Colombo, Galle Face Hotel, Cinnamon Grand, TAJ Colombo, The Kingsbury Colombo and Hilton Colombo.
Local bands and artistes will play at different venues throughout the week.
CFW Fashion Films also makes its return on August 7, to bring together the creative worlds of fashion and film.
The week will lead to Swim Week Colombo – Asia’s first fashion week dedicated to swimwear and resort wear, presented by title sponsor OLU Tropical Water .
Swim Week Colombo was established in 2015 with the vision of creating a global platform for swimwear and positioning Sri Lanka as a global swimwear hub.
This year, the platform will showcase the latest collections from designers such as Darshi Keerthisena, Meraki, Sonali Dharmawardena, Pigeon Island and Maus among others, as well as seven Emerging Designers and international designers such as Wendell Rodricks, Studio Verandah, Aqua Blu and Rena Singh.
The runway shows will be hosted by the three hotel partners, namely Shangri-La Hotel Colombo, Hilton Colombo and Galle Face Hotel.
The launch on Wednesday, concluded with what was aimed at being a taste of what’s to come — a theatrical culmination of fashion, art and food.
However, the use of women as centrepieces and their skirts as tablecloths struck a jarring note. This has since sparked a social media backlash, with many believing it to be disrespectful and calling for the organisers to set a better example.
| Making their mark this year too | |
| For the fourth consecutive year, Nations Trust Bank American Express has partnered with CFW Swim Week for Luxury Resort-Wear as the official ‘Fashion Card’. Priyantha Talwatte – Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Nations Trust Bank said, “As a brand that is focused on luxury and lifestyle, we take pride in our association with CFW as the official ‘Fashion Card’ for Swim Week Luxury Resort Wear 2019 . |