Colombo Fashion Week 2015 kicks off; urges Govt. support

Friday, 20 February 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

From left: Ramani Fernando Salons Ramani Fernando, Hilton Colombo General Manager Manesh Fernando, Colombo Jewellery Stores CEO Colombo Akram Cassim, HSBC Colombo Fashion Week President Ajai V. Singh, HSBC CEO Patrick J. Gallagher, Fashion Week Director Dirk Flamer Caldera, SML Frontier Automotive Managing Director Roshini Fernando and Unilever Marketing Director Siddharth Banerjee By Shehana Dain Colombo Fashion Week (CFW) yesterday launched the Spring/Summer 2015 (SS15) season whilst urging the Government and banking sector to extend support to take Sri Lanka fashion and retail brands global.

“It’s not a very level playing field; for example, international brands are bought in duty free whereas local brands don’t have that, we pay duty on fabric and have to incur many other expenses. The Government needs to get behind this initiative and try to push fashion out; we have no Government input. This year the Tourist Board joined with us but previous years we had very little commitment from the Government,” CFW Director Dirk Flamer Caldera told the media launch of CFW yesterday. He added: “We are one of the most premium garment manufacturing hubs in the world. We have the technology to manufacture tremendous amount of clothing here. We also need the support from the EDB and the garment bodies in the country. Being a tailor is not value-adding activity; by doing that, out of a $10 garment you will probably get $0.5 while if we market fashion, we can surely get a $5 profit.” The launch emphasised the fact that CFW should not be just another show; it should be a platform where business takes place. Up to now buyers coming in have had bad experiences because designers aren’t geared to sell – they are geared up just to show. Fashion Week is a platform where people mainly go to buy fashion, not just to look at fashion and the validity of Fashion Week will only happen when this functions properly. The main purpose of the show is to give Sri Lankan designers a livelihood from designing. HSBC CFW President Ajai V. Singh giving insight into the retail presence of Sri Lankan designers commented: “For many years fashion in Sri Lanka has been a hobby so we don’t have a big multi brand shop in the country. Most of the fashion retailers in the country have been selling surplus stocks in their outlets. Tourists coming to the country will do three things – eat, see and shop. They don’t want to see big international brands because they can get them anywhere so they would want to buy local designer items.” Addressing this issue, Singh stated that he and his team have initiated the ‘Design Trunk Show’. This show provides a unique retail opportunity for local designers, who will be able to showcase and pre-sell exclusively designed items from their latest collections to customers and CFW invitees. It brings an important commercial aspect to CFW and benefits designers who may not have their own retail space by giving them a platform to interact with and sell directly to customers. Selected items from these collections will also be available for both local and international customers to purchase on the CFW Curates site (www.cfwcurates.com). The Design Trunk Show will run from 10 to 14 March 2015 and will take place in a conceptualised space designed by the winner of the Pop-Up Store Design Contest, a design competition held each year for students of architecture. CFW continues to nurture young fashion talent in Sri Lanka once again with this year’s ‘BrightSpark’ Shows which will take place on 11 March and provide a rare platform for aspiring fashion designers to be showcased as part of the CFW SS15 Show. This year 10 young designers were taken through an intensive training and mentoring process, which prepared them for conceptualising and producing collections that are fit to be showcased on a Fashion Week runway. The most promising ‘BrightSpark’ designer, whose name will be unveiled at the show, will also be the recipient of the prestigious Fashion Design Fund, which will provide financial assistance for the creation of the designer’s own collection. Each year, CFW selects a theme and celebrates a trend or concept that has influenced fashion over the decades. This season, the craft of tie-dye will serve as the central visual theme for all CFW events, merchandise and online platforms. The Hilton Colombo Poolside will be themed the Fashion Village and will serve as the dynamic centre for all CFW activities. Since its inception in 2003, CFW has served as the backbone of the Sri Lankan fashion industry and has been committed to raising the bar for Sri Lankan designers. CFW is enriched by the partnerships it enjoys with its likeminded partners – HSBC, Hilton Colombo, Land Rover, Wineworld, Colombo Jewellery Stores, Unilever, TATA Housing, Cotton Collection, Hameedia, Ramani Fernando Salons Leo Burnett and Quintessentially – who believe in CFW’s vision and aspirations. Media partners are the Wijeya Group including the Daily FT, Sunday Times, Daily Mirror, HI TV and HI Magazine and Life Online and Fashion TV.

Pix by Lasantha Kumara