Luxury Resort-wear: Focus of next Fashion Week

From left: Prestige Automobile Ltd. Director Sales and Marketing Niranga Peiris, Nations Trust Bank Senior Executive Vice President Priyantha Talwatta, Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo Vice President and General Manager Timothy Wright, Founder/President Ajai Vir Singh, Olu Tropical Water and Wine World Chief Executive Officer Shalindra Fernando, Linea Aqua Chief Executive Officer Muditha Ferdinando, APS Logistics International - Sri Lanka Director Kanchana Ekanayake, Head of Beauty, Unilever Sri Lanka Mihira Kulatunga 

The next edition of Fashion Week Colombo from 4 to 7 July at Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo

The growing segment of Luxury Resort-wear will be in focus at the next edition of Fashion Week, hosted at Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo. This segment includes Swimwear and Resort-wear under a Responsible Fashion theme.

Fashion Week Colombo Swim and Resort Edition, in its 4th edition, is presented by OLU Tropical Water. Fashion Week Colombo’s ambitious vision is to create a global platform for sustainable swimwear and resort-wear as well as to position Sri Lanka as the resort-wear capital of the world, which is steadily becoming a reality. 

“As Sri Lanka’s only locally bottled natural mineral water brand, OLU Tropical Water is proud to be title sponsor for yet another year. OLU originates from the cloud forests of Sri Lanka, some 4300 feet above sea level and is an authentic, beautifully crafted, home grown Sri Lankan brand and we are fully supportive of Fashion Weeks mission to showcase Sri Lanka as a hub of creativity and innovation,” Olu Tropical Water Chief Executive Officer Shalindra Fernando.

The objective of Fashion Week is to holistically uplift Sri Lanka’s fashion design industry to showcase Sri Lanka as an expert hub for swimwear and a platform for luxury resort-wear, while creating a relevant tourism story with sustainability at the core of this development project.

“Luxury resort-wear is a new growth category which includes Swimwear and Resort-wear, this position also showcases Sri Lanka as a destination. With this edition we continue to push the benchmark for the Sri Lankan fashion industry to find its place in the world of fashion, this is the 15th year and with every passing year we will strive to go higher for Sri Lanka,” said Fashion Week Founder Ajai Vir Singh. 

Linea Aqua one of the most advanced manufacturing facilities in the world is the main partner of the Fashion Week. The latest in luxury swimwear fashion that is presented on the ramp is manufactured at this world class facility. “We are ever happy to share our unceasing journey of running the extra mile beyond manufacturing with Fashion Week Colombo,” Linea Aqua Chief Executive Officer Muditha Ferdinando said. 

Shangri-La, Colombo is the official host hotel of Fashion Week Colombo Swim and Resort Edition, located at the exclusive One Galle Face address.

“Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo is very happy to partner with a movement that celebrates 15 years in the world of fashion and has revived the fashion industry to father the fashion development in Sri Lanka”, says Timothy Wright, Vice President and General Manager of Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo. He further elaborated that “Embracing such an initiative like the Fashion Week Colombo endorses, Shangri-La’s support towards organisations that are committed to art and fashion as well as a focus on the environment and driving sustainability into the core of an industry.”

The runway shows planned for this season will feature the latest collections in luxury resort-wear and swimwear fashion designed by five renowned international designer swimwear brands Aviva, Heidi Klein Swim, We Are Handsome, Hot-As-Hell and Zalando. Along with twelve leading Sri Lankan designers and swimwear brands Pigeon Island, Conscience, Maus, Meraki, Sonali Dharmawardena, Charini Suriyage, Aqua Island, Sea Sand, Koca, La Pard, Rumpunch and Linea Aqua.

There will also be an Emerging Designer Showcase which will showcase the collections of 7 promising designers, an exciting part of the week where the next generation of designers showcase their talent. The designers have been mentored in honing their skills and guided through the Fashion Week Colombo creative process, the shows will take place at a new location at Shangri-La, Colombo. 

Each partner of the Fashion Week is a partner in the vision to create and develop a unique identity for Sri Lanka through the development of the fashion design industry. 

Title Partner is Olu Tropical Water, Official Manufacturing Partner Linea Aqua, Official Host Hotel Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo. Nations Trust Bank American Express is the Fashion Card Partner, APEX Logistics is the Official Fashion Logistics Partner, BMW Prestige Automobile is the Official Automobile Partner, Official Lifestyle Beverage Partner Wine World Sri Lanka, Ramani Fernando Salons is the Official Hair and Make-Up Partner. MSL Sri Lanka is the Official PR Partner and Emerging Media is the Outdoor Digital Media Partner.

Fashion Week Colombo also creates a platform for aspiring film directors through Fashion Films – a unique collaboration between designers and film directors to produce a 1-minute-Fashion-Films shot on a smartphone.

 It’s a film presentation of their ideation of their new collections and the inspiration behind it and to bring the designers inspirations to life through film. These films will be revealed before each collection takes the runway.

For more information on Swim Week Colombo, visit the official website (swimweekcolombo.com). Stay informed of the latest on Swim Week by using #swimweekcolombo on Facebook (www.facebook.com/swimweekcolombo) and Instagram (@swimweekcolombo) for the latest updates, photos, videos and more.