DAY 1 - Night of glam
The first night of HSBC Colombo Fashion Week 2012, February 24th, was full of glamour and style. The Hilton ballroom was filled with fashion designers and Colombo's fashion lovers who were gathered to watch this annual extravaganza.
International and local designers showcased their designs on the opening night, with several making their Colombo Fashion Week debut. The show was opened by the Middle Finger's new line designed by Fahad Sheriff who showcased a stylish collection for men, casual and formal wear expanding into a range of fashionable accessories such as ties, shoes and so.
Supermodel Perine Fernando who is the Colombo Fashion Week spokesperson made her first appearance at this year's Fashion Week modelling Gaetano Navarra's line; she wore an elegant white piece designed by Gaetano.
The showstopper for the night was KT Brown presenting designs of a mixture of gold and green with retro diagonal stripes. Kanchana, the woman behind the KT Brown's line, has indeed done a great job and many talked of her after the grand event. The line was also showcased in a different way. Two models appeared first dancing and the rest followed dancing on the ramp to Paul Simon's song 'Diamond on the soles of her shoes'. There was much spirit in the way it was done.
Another designer who presented an interesting line was Lilian Pereira with several beautiful creations for evening wear, office wear and casual wear.
However, it was Sonali Dharmawardena, who got the most applause from the audience for her nature inspired line "Hope for the future" made in batik style.
Incorporating her feelings of devastation while travelling around Sri Lanka after the tsunami into her new line, the collection was a powerful statement that resonated with the audience.
Overall visually pleasing, the long pauses which disturbed the flow were a drawback on Friday night.
DAY 2 Going ethical
The second day of Colombo Fashion Week themed the Ethical Fashion Day, saw some of the fashion industry's socially progressive designers take to the ramp with their ethically conscious collections.
First up was Bibi Russell, former supermodel and international designer from Bangladesh presenting a collection of woven flowing garments in vibrant yellows, greens and oranges.
Starting the show off with a bang, the models danced their way up the ramp to retro Hindi tunes, to cheers from the audience. This was followed by a collection for KUR by Kasuni Ratnayaka, dominated by whites, blacks and greens. Conscience had an entire audience on the edge of their seats, collectively praying for the models to not fall off the bikes they were riding with impressive gusto on stage. The collection, with great wearable factor, mainly featured whites, blues and greys.
Competing for the Gen Next award presented by Pantene, Deneth Piuma, Gihan Ediriweera and Koca wowed an audience with creations that explored cheeththa material, exuded a hint of oriental mystery, and used architectural influences respectively.
Samant Chauhan drew on the styles of ancient Indian royalty, presenting traditional Indian wear in rich fabrics of fluid movement. James Ferreira and Dharshi Keerthisena of Buddhi Batiks were also among the ethically conscious, presenting their collections to an appreciative audience.
DAY 3 Grand finale
The glorious finale of the HSBC Colombo Fashion Week showcased the work of designers from both home and abroad. Immediately apparent was the very real potential of Sri Lankan designers, with brands like Stringhopper matching their international contemporaries piece for piece.
The best just might have been saved for last. Yolanda, long considered among the foremost Sri Lankan designers, was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The viewing of her collection, which served as the night's finale revealed a designer in her prime, one who continues to create supremely elegant, unique pieces that were all the more appealing because they were eminently wearable.
That the grand finale of every night of the three day event was built around the collection of a Sri Lankan designer is evidence for founder Ajay Vir Singh that rapid progress is being made in the local fashion industry. "By God's grace we had outdone our hopes on all the aspects that we had set ourselves," Ajay told the Sunday Times.
He was pleased to have CFW recognize Yolanda along with young designer Deneth, winner of the Gen-Next Award, and says Sri Lankan designers have taken it to the next level this year. However, there remains a need for them to work harder on tightening their process, enhancing their global image and improving their supply chains, he added.
The event also succeeded in that it brought down reputed international designers with new collections to show and wisdom to share.
The likes of Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, Rizwan Beyg, William Richard Green, Jason and Anshu who participated in the finale were among the many well-known foreign faces in the crowd. "We wanted to find the right kind of international designers to come and collaborate and share their knowledge with Sri Lankan designers," said Ajay.
The involvement of supermodel Perine Fernando as their spokesperson has also been wonderful, he said, outlining plans to have Perine become involved with mentorship programs for young designers and models. "She's worked with the biggest of designers, and we want to use her experience," he explained, adding that her knowledge of collection presentation and styling in particular would provide a real support for new designers who hoped to gain entry into new markets.
Already plans are afoot for next year, and Ajay seems to determined to ensure that the Colombo Fashion Week continues to up the ante: "We have to make the Sri Lankan fashion industry shine."
Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara, Indika Handuwala and Susantha Liyanawatte
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