Sri Lanka as a ‘creative hub’

Exclusive interview with Founder Core Committee Member of Sri Lanka Designer Festival Rohantha Athukorala

Q: Even with the disastrous start to Sri Lanka Design Festival 2010 on Thursday, it came out good... Your views?

A: One cannot plan for every eventuality. The weather gods dumped 400-odd millimetres of rain that created havoc in the city but at the end, the Thursday event – the craft village – achieved its objective. There were over 100 foreign delegates and buyers linking with the supply chain from rural Sri Lanka of artisans where a dynamic fusion of traditional craft was linked to the modern day lifestyles of a global customer which was a first of its kind.

It was unique for Sri Lanka Design Festival. All credit must go to Linda Speldewinde. This event was her brainchild and I remember Linda making many trips to the outskirts of Sri Lanka to make this happen. The event linked to the political economy, giving a nationalistic touch to the event, which is important in today’s surroundings of modern post war Sri Lanka.

Q: Why did you say that SLDF was the seed for Sri Lanka becoming a creative hub?

A: The buzz word of today is Sri Lanka as a hub. Financial hub, maritime hub, shopping hub, knowledge hub and the like... so why not a creative hub? In essence SLDF is all about showcasing the creative talent of the country and how it can be developed with global expertise.

Linda, being a creative person, had the global contacts and hence the linkages were possible. There were four of us professionals from diverse backgrounds who believed in her idea and the 2010 edition included SMEs, rural Sri Lanka with its handicrafts designed to meet the global customer, highlighting the ethically manufactured proposition of Sri Lanka apparel with an international symposium and also showing fashion apparel from the industry.

From an education angle, there were workshops, presentations and seminars on batik techniques, pottery, photography, graphics, advertising, interior and jewellery to fine-tune the Sri Lankan home-grown creativity, for which SLDF stands.

Q: How can SL’s ailing apparel industry, which is below last year’s export performance, benefit from such events?

A: Just because an industry is down by 4-5% against last year, one cannot classify an industry to be ailing. I would consider the apparel industry to be the trendsetting industry of Sri Lanka, even setting the standards for the global apparel industry. If I am to mention a few of them, the ethically manufactured proposition with the tag ‘Garments Without Guilt’ is a first in the world.

I had the opportunity of meeting industry icons like Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren and CEO of Macys Terry Lunsgren, Kenneth Cole and the like at the recently concluded WWD Apparel CEO Summit and the theme of their business ethos was sustainability, which is being responsible to the environment and people they work. This is exactly what the Ethical Symposium that was staged on day two at SLDF 2010 was all about.

Sri Lanka made an announcement to the world that to practice ethical manufacturing there must be ethical sourcing, meaning that orders are placed with proper timelines and responsible pricing. This is the strength of the apparel industry of Sri Lanka.

If I may quote another incident at the recent Global Textile Conference, industry stalwart Ashroff Omar challenged the global industry stating that over time any industry consolidates and prices come down, be it computers or automobiles. He went on to say that in the case of textiles, it was the reverse and it needed to be addressed. So this is the mark that this industry has made globally and SLDF supports this initiative. I guess the 2009 partnered by Brandix and 2010 edition by MAS Intimates highlights the stature of the event and its benefit to the industry.

Q: With the economic downturn yet in play, will Sri Lanka be ethically unemployed?

A: This can cut across many industries, be it tea, apparel, cinnamon or jewellery. But one needs to understand what alternatives one can turn to. In the case of apparel, the alternatives can be Bangladesh or may be China for sourcing, but then again Bangladesh is dogged with industrial unrest in the recent past whilst China will be faced with escalating wage rates in the near future in addition to communication problems as many do not know English.

In this background, Sri Lanka remains competitive. Being ethically right with a tag ‘Garments Without Guilt’ will add to the proposition. When the world is turning to the wave of sustainable business, one cannot be out of step just because we are ethically right. That argument does not hold ground.

Q: With GSP+ taken off, what impact can the country have?

A: It’s too premature to comment on the impact. At least four months post withdrawal might give the proper vibes. From a simple demand-supply point of view, there has to be an impact. The question is more on the reforms that Sri Lanka will see in the new Budget and what recommendations have been picked up by the Government. But I am confident that strong economic reforms will come into play so that Sri Lanka can benefit from peace dividends.

Q: Any success on the B2B meeting between the SME sector and global retailers at SLDF 2010?

A: Obviously there has to be, but it takes time to hit a retail shelf as there is an incubation time. If I pick one from the 2009 edition, there was a designer called Gabrielle who came in and a linkage was made with an eminent local manufacturer. The relationship has matured out to launch a label called ‘Conexao,’ targeting the Mexico market, which is totally manufactured with recycled material. The designer is the brand icon. The collection was launched at the industry show that happened on the third day of SLDF 2010. This is just one success story from a business front, but there were many more.

Having big names like Asos, Ted Baker, Frugi, Warehouse, Playhouse, Topshop and Whistles coming in for the b2b sessions to meet the Sri Lankan export companies like Buddhi Batiks, Ventura Star, Vogue Tex, Orit, BAM, Hidramanis, Brandix (Conexao brand), Times, Jinada, Saemaul, Penguin, Union Apparels, Rakshaa, Marlo, Sanchia and Kalaro to name a few means that serious business would have been surely discussed.

Q: Is not correct to say that SLDF 2010 was very Western province-centric?

A: There is a perception to that effect, but the reality is different. If one goes to the architecture of the craft village, the work had begun almost a year ago where the Academy of Design identified craft communities across the country and then searched the global market place to find an appropriate designer to work with that craft community. In fact the British designers came and lived in the villages with the local craft community so that whatever fine-tuning was done was at the community level where a behavioural change actually took place.

As I said, it was a pet project of Chairperson of SLDF Linda. The designers got a deep understanding of the lifestyle and why the designs originated before fashioning the product to fit into a global market. There were some products that came in from Jaffna that many commented to be some of the best pieces on show. This relationship will now further develop so that the 2011 edition can be at a higher level, may be targeting a different set of buyers.

The key Government agency for exports coming in as a sponsor augurs well for the event. In fact the Minister of Economic Development and the Minister of Industry and Commerce making time to be at the opening gives an indication of the rural centricity that this event brought to SLDF.

Q: But why stage events when the purchasing trend globally is moving to e-commerce?

A: You are right; the world is moving to e commerce. If I may track back to WWD CEO summit, the founder of e-bay John Danahoe mentioned that today any department store does not have to return outdated stocks to suppliers, etc., as e-bay will create a look-and-feel department store on the net on a ‘deal theme’ to cater to different customer groups. But in the case of Sri Lanka, we need drive awareness up globally and especially on the consistency of the supply chain. Hence staging such events such as SLDF is important to the economy. I guess other sectors must follow this business model and drive rural connectivity to global markets.

Q: Where should SLDF focus next?

A: I guess the overall proposition of the brand must be on the same footing but with Chairperson Linda being very creative and a winner of the British Council Designer Award, a new product will surely be introduced. The Ethical Apparel edition was a new product for SLDF 2010, which was well accepted by the community. Separately, the event being a ‘carbon neutral event’ gave a new dimension to the event, which I guess needs to be built on in the years to come.

I strongly feel the company Sri Lanka Design Festival is ready to go public within the next two years, especially given that Sri Lanka’s stock exchange is booming and for innovative companies like SLDF to have a take makes sense. May be the brand can go global by staging similar events in London, Paris and New York one day.

To your question of next year, maybe SLDF must present a BPO company for design. For instance a collection of T-shirts designed locally and linked to global company like ‘Threadless,’ which will buy the designs at a premium and once selected it can be manufactured in Sri Lanka and shipped. The opportunities are endless for Sri Lanka Design Festival. It’s only a seed for making Sri Lanka a creative hub.