Build up to Colombo Fashion Week 2011 on ETV Made in Sri Lanka (Part 1 of 2)

[malaynadawn]

01:21 - "23 Sri Lankan designers and labels are lined up to showcase their collections alongside international designers like Rizwan Beyg from Pakistan, Bibi Russell from Bangladesh, Agatha Ruiz de la Prada from Spain and Alecca Curano all the way from Italy."

[malaynadawn]

06:25 – Ajaiy - “The rest of the world has their own theory of what ethical fashion is. But ethical fashion is a very natural thing in South Asia. We came together with ethical fashion designers from Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka, and we have other countries like Malaysia joining in as well, right? And together with that, we have created this very inclusive platform where these designers are together and we can take this fashion platform to other countries as well.”

[malaynadawn]

05:02 – Ajaiy: “Fashion Week format around the world is the most, it’s a very cold-blooded, yet a very glamorous business meeting. Designers for the season come and show what they’ve prepared. You have buyers who sit there and book orders, because they want to see, okay, this will have to be retailed. Media is there to capture, print and try to create some kind of a desire amongst fashion consumers to go and buy."

[malaynadawn]

04:07 – Ajaiy “Then we had the other one called Stringhopper – ready-to-wear men’s line. It’s very smart, quirky, international, fun. Then, you know, LICC Jeans followed, and all this was going one while we had designers coming up like Darshi (Buddhi Batiks), Kanchana (KT Brown), so you had designer labels and designers with their own name.”

[malaynadawn]

03:23 – Ajaiy

“And in Sri Lanka what happens when you talk fashion, people are either thinking of models, or garments. But fashion is in between.”

“Well then if you start Colombo Fashion Week, there would be a platform where we can create Sri Lankan fashion brands. When we started Arugam Bay, I just looked around and said, look, we’re surrounded by beaches. People wear flip-flops, right? How come we don’t have a Sri Lankan brand? Look at Brazil. They have Havaianas. Right? Why not us?”

[malaynadawn]

02:49 – Kanchana of KT Brown

02:51 Sunil Shamdasani – Himalaya Impex

02:52 - Kumar Sangakkara - Sri Lankan cricket team captain

02:53 – Ramani Fernando of Ramani Fernando salons

02:54 – Otara Chandiram from ODEL

02:55 Aadil & Azhara Aziz, PR for Colombo Fashion Week

02:58 – Manoviraj Khosla, Indian fashion designer

02:59 – Bibi Russell, Bangladeshi fashion designer

03:06 – Prasad Bidapa, Consultant to Colombo Fashion Week “Sri Lankan designers will one day rule the world!”

[malaynadawn]

02:10 Ajaiy:

“What I realized was that Sri Lanka has a lot of depth in creative industries --architecture, art-- and then I realized that there was a lot of fashion-related craft in Sri Lanka which was not being given its due platform or share of exposure and opportunities. You know, there’s Batik, there’s Beeralu lace, a lot of things, so I realized if you dig deeper, there is a fashion tradition which is not really being put out there.”

[malaynadawn]

As Communications Consultant to Colombo Fashion Week, I wanted to point out a few highlights (by time code):

01:40 – When Colombo Fashion Week started out in 2003, the big picture was very different. Sri Lanka was known for making garments, not designing them. Fashion design was looked upon as a pastime rather than a serious career. ..enter Ajaiy Vir Singh—a fashion entrepreneur who believes that Sri Lanka has more to offer the fashion world than just garment factories and cheap labor.