16-year-old crowned Chokolaate Ponds Mother Daughter Fashion Designer of the Year 2016

Sri Lanka’s favourite teen magazine Chokolaate, conducted the Mother Daughter Fashion Designer Competition for the seventh consecutive year. 

In collaboration with Ponds the competition saw 16 talented young designers showcase their designs in three segments namely casualwear, sportswear and eveningwear.  As always the designs were modelled by real mothers and daughters. 

The grand finale was held at the SLECC on 28 May, amidst a large gathering of well-known personalities from the fashion circle in Colombo, internationally acclaimed designers and the media.

It was a show packed with fashion on and off the stage, with the audience also turning up in high fashion attire. As always the winners were chosen by an elite panel of judges and 16-year old Viranda Bandara was adjudged the Chokolaate Ponds Mother Daughter Fashion Designer of the Year 2016. 

Viranda, who studies at Gateway College and is currently sitting for her O/Ls, showcased a collection inspired by the 1950s golden era of fashion. Her collection using vibrant red as the primary colour was modeled by mother-daughter duo Karin and Amritaa. Viranda’s collection of casual, sports and evening wear were classy yet easy to wear and showed much promise in terms of her creativity. Apart from being the designer of the year Viranda also carried away the title for the best sportswear segment.   

Manaharie Pitigala, a 20-year-old from Musaeus College who is currently studying at the Asian Academy of Commercial Studies, was adjudged the First Runner-Up. Manaharie’s collection was inspired through the shapes, textures and the colors of seashells. She also carried away the ‘Best Evening Wear Segment’ title. The Second Runner-Up was young Rashfa Arshad who also walked away with the title for ‘Best Casualwear’.

Meanwhile, Aishath Najwa, a young designer from Maldives who is currently studying at Raffles Design Institute, was voted by the audience as the ‘Most Popular Designer’ and Aishath also walked away with the title of the ‘Chokolaate Facebook Most Liked Designer’ at the contest amassing over 2,000 Facebook likes. This beautiful young designer’s theme was the night sky and the starry night painting by Vincent Van Gogh. 

Raising the bar this year the show also saw the design schools showcase a menswear segment for the very first time. Another first this year was the inclusion of a foreign contestant. The show stands out as one of Sri Lanka’s largest fashion competitions and is still growing, making it one of the most sort after design competitions.

Editor of Chokolaate Magazine, brainchild and Founder of the Mother Daughter Fashion Designer Competition Michelle Gunesekera said that she was delighted to see the level of talent displayed by the designers and gave a hint that the show has much more to offer in the coming years. She was also deeply grateful to the sponsors and all those who supported the show and brought it to what it is today.  

This year the show was strengthened by a host of sponsors, with the title sponsor being Ponds, which has been a great supporter of the show in the past. Co-Sponsors were Coats Thread Lanka, Triumph and AMDT. Segment Sponsors LICC Jeans, Elephant House Ice Cream, George Stuart Pharmaceuticals and Heart Rislet. 

The Official Hotel and Caterer for the event was the Mount Lavinia Hotel, Official Beverage Coca Cola, Official Radio Kiss FM, Official Television partner ART TV, Official Airline Sri Lankan Airlines, Official Photographer Praveen Mirando, Official Videographer Radicalz, Official Hair & Make-Up Salon Chrissy’s,  Official Choreographer Brian Kerkoven, Official Florist Second Chance Flowers, Official Online Media Revolution Portfolio & Gayani Batz Media Crew, Digital Community Partner Happy SL, Official MC Kumar De Silva, and the official PR Partner for the event was Nehemiah Consultants. 

Mini Titles were sponsored by VLCC while Jet Airways and You Travels provided gifts for the winners.