TV Times

TV Times

New designs from a veteran
Former model turned dress designer Rita Sooriya Fernando nee De Livera will begin to display her collocation of designer women's and men's wear at 357, Duplication Road starting on April 6.

Sooriya, who is in her early 70s now says her collection will include many oriental clothing such as the sari, shalwars, churidas, sherwanis and kurtas as well as handbags will be displayed at the shop known as "sparklers."

Sooriya was a pioneer in the field of modelling in Sri Lanka and had trained as a model in London at the Lischter School of Finishing and Modelling and also Cherry Blossom School of Modelling in London. She has modeled for Norman Hartnell, a designer for Queen Elizabeth II in the early 1950s.

Rita worked with fashion designer Kirthi Sri Karunaratne from 1955 to 1961 and moved to Italy to continue her modelling career for 15 years. While there she studied fashion designing after studying at the Institute of Fashion Designing in Florence and has held fashion shows in Sri Lanka as well.

All the clothes of Sooriya are personally designed by her and are unique in their own way.

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