Femininity and romance, colour and creativity characterize the latest collection that fashion designer Lillian Perera will put on the runway at the Suisse Hotel in Kandy on Sunday December 12, in good time to influence wardrobes for the festive season. Entitled “The Return of the Feminine Spirit”, the collection is elegant, playful, imaginative and above all, eminently wearable, translating easily from the runway to the street, the office and the cocktail circuit.
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| Lillian Perera |
Designer Lillian Perera has had a life long love affair with fashion that began when she was a little girl in Norway designing and sewing clothes for her cherished dolls. Sewing, in all its forms, remains a passion with her and where some people might read a book to relax before going to sleep Lillian confesses to needing her nightly “fix” with her embroidery frame instead.
In 1963 Lillian met and married Sri Lankan, Kingsley Perera and accompanied him to Sri Lanka – and to Kandy –where she has lived for 36 years, absorbing local colour, and culture and translating it into clothes that combine elegance with simplicity and grace with playfulness.
She emerged as a designer of note in Sri Lanka with the spectacular wardrobe she created for Miss Sri Lanka 1985 - her daughter Jacqueline Sharmalee. Lillian has lost none of her magic since then and visitors to the Suisse Hotel on Sunday are ensured of a feast for the senses and an inspiration for their wardrobes in 2011.
Lillian’s own inspiration for the collection comes from melding gorgeous eastern fabrics with sleek western design bringing a unique “fusion fashion” to the runway. Long noted for her eye for the unusual, Lillian’s raw materials for the collection could be anything from a pair of lace curtains to the rich pallu and shimmering silk of a traditional sari.
The outfits will be shown by young models from Kandy, many of whom are “trying out their wings” for the first time under the professional guidance of the designer herself and in the benevolent shadow of acclaimed Sri Lankan model Nadeeka Perera . Proceeds from the “The Return of the Feminine Spirit” will go to charities supported by the Inner Wheel Club of Kandy of which Lillian has been an active and valued member since 1969.
Tickets priced at Rs. 2,000 (reserved), Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 500 are available at Nihal’s Super, Keells and Hotel Suisse. |
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