Arts

Youthful, promising finale

Text by Tera Jayewardene and pix by Amila Gamage

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Himashi Wijeweera : The beeralu look

There was a buzz of anticipation in the Colombo Hilton’s Grand Ballroom last Sunday as 12 young designers took the ramp with their collections in the grand finale to the HSBC Colombo Fashion Week. Chosen for this year’s Emerging Designer Showcase were Vathsala Gunasekara, Yathra Jayawardena, Anushika Perera, Dinushi Pamunuwa, Poorni Wijesinghe, Marlon Rae, Himashi Wijeweera, Maddumage Nilusha,Nayani Fernando, Rebecca Silva, Achala Lee Koh and Nadeeshani Ratnayake.

Yathra Jayawardene: Highlighting batik

Among the standout features of the night were Himashi Wijeweera’s use of Beeralu lace, Vathsala Gunasekara’s exaggerated sleeves and simple yet bold patterns, Marlon Rae’s edgy look and Nadeeshani Ratnayake’s sporty collection along with Achala Lee Koh’s use of x-rayed flowers and leaf veins.

Inspired by her love of animals, Dinushi Pamunuwa’s collection aimed to bring awareness about cruelty to animals. Though not full of animal leathers and prints it had a distinct animal feel to it subtly presented in the line of A-line dresses, casual wear and lingerie. Maddumage Nilusha’s casual wear collection designs used a colour palette of dark blue, white and beige to present a modern professional feel to the crop tops, open pencil skirts, short loose dresses, rompers, and drop crotch baggy pants.

Marlon Rae (below): Body hugging creations

Poorni Wijesinghe’s collection (featured on our Magazine cover) inspired by the Brahmi script saw casual women’s wear with a distinct hippie feel with highlights of beeralu lace used to good effect.

‘Rebecca’ by Rebecca Silva was all about long loosely fitted dresses, casual and comfy with essentially upscaled handloom material.Both trendy and timeless Vathsala Gunasekara’s designs featured exaggerated sleeves, in muted colours and simple patterns that defied the barriers of age as they could be worn by both the young and not so young.

Anushika Perera had chosen to work with handloom and linen fabrics to create simple yet elegant designs, primarily for casual wear with some suited for professional occasions. Oxidized World, Marlon Rae’s collection screamed edgy with its use of oranges and deep reds. Bold and daring with its vibrant use of colour and body hugging styles, this was a collection designed for a fearless fashionista. Eyelets used in many of the pieces in the collection further accentuated the daring feel.

Nadeeshani Ratnayake’s collection drew heavily on sportswear with crop tops, sports bras and tennis skirts giving it a hip and trendy look. An interesting feature was the numbers and lines arranged in a disorganized manner. X-rayed plant veins and daffodils blended into patterns in Achala Lee Koh’s collection Lux Botanica. Used in conjunction with silvers and bright yellows, it created a look that was both subtle and striking.

Vathsala Gunasekara (below left): The sleeve’s the thing

Yathra Jayawardene’s vibrant collection had batik designs on each piece of clothing giving it a distinct Sri Lankan feel even though some of the pieces were western style dresses and clothes, both casual and formal.

An elegant collection of mostly formal wear by Nayani Fernando saw see- through elements and single colours. Himashi Wijeweera drew on traditional Beeralu lace, used in a plethora of styles, from two-piece outfits to long dresses with frills and sequins.

The Emerging Designers had the distinction of winding up the 15th anniversary edition of HSBC Colombo Fashion Week and no doubt, the audience will now await more from this talented group after this promising start.