Sparkling creativity and showcasing the artistry of Sri Lankans, the much-anticipated Sri Lanka Design Festival (SLDF) began at the Mount Lavinia Hotel and the Academy of Design (AoD) premises from November 16 and will end today with a gala fashion show. Organised for the third time by the Academy of Design, SLDF brought together students, artisans, industry leaders, and the government under the theme ‘Close-up on Sri Lanka’.
SLDF is not just a fashion event. It is a public-private partnership that captures “the essence of our country” and promotes Sri Lanka’s potential in making a mark in the global design industry, said the Founder of the SLDF and Managing Director of the Academy of Design, Linda Speldewinde. Elaborating on this year’s theme, she added that the focus was on “design for sustainable development” in the social and environmental spheres.
The five-day festival comprised various events including interactive workshops, forum discussions, exhibitions and fashion shows that spanned many fields of creativity and design including fashion, graphics, interiors and photography.
The Island Craft Exhibition and Fashion Show, enriched by the contributions of many traditional artisans from many rural areas of the island including Divulapitiya in Gampaha, Eruwil in Batticaloa, Talagune in Matale, Marathamunai in Ampara, Galle and Kandy, captured a wide audience. In an attempt to empower and inspire the traditional craftsmen and revive the beauty of Lankan creativity, traditional arts like handloom and batik textiles, beeralu, lac-work, brassware, ceramics, palmyrah, cane, paper, shell and coir crafts were transformed to meet the demands of modernity into beautiful works of homeware, upholstery, flooring and other interior products and couture fashion accessories. Island Crafts provided a much-needed platform for artisans to tap into a potential customer base of Sri Lanka’s expanding hospitality industry including hoteliers, architects and interior designers.
The festival ends today with the second showing of the Sri Lanka Apparel Fashion Show, at the Mount Lavinia Hotel. This show will bring many leading names of the Sri Lankan apparel industry, including Hirdaramani, Orient Design, Brandix, MAS, Voguetex, Penguin, Timex, Union, Hameedias, Star, House of Lonali and Redcocoontake, and industry collaborative fashion collections from the Academy of Design on the same catwalk to highlight their prowess. |
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