Young Inspirations

Purnima Abeyratne is not one to rest on her laurels. The creative force behind the Inspirations label, this young designer has just expanded her horizons, this time focusing on children and teenagers, a hugely under exploited market.

Purnima's new shop opened with no fanfare at Colombo's plush Crescat boulevard, is the setting for the "Young Inspirations" label. The shop itself, is worthy of mention with its silver grey decor, enhanced by large aluminium pyramids aiming to achieve a futuristic feel. Explains Purnima, " The decor should go with the clothes..very modern." Credit for the decor, she adds, must go to a very creative friend Sandy de Alwis.

Young Inspirations caters for the three to 13, 14 age group and Purnima has made her creations one of a kind. So unlike in earlier times where the same design would be repeated in various sizes, here there's only one of each. "Very exclusive," says the designer, "but then young people, especially teenagers are very particular about their clothes."

Kids and their mums may well be quite fascinated by this new label. Purnima has dropped the frilly, frothy ensembles and smocked dresses that one sees on many a child and instead gone in for a contemporary look using fashionable fabrics such as lycra, silk and crepe. Sarong skirts, bell bottoms make their appearance, all reasonably priced, Purnima insists. So kids can look forward to making a statement at party-time.

Purnima fights shy of defining her clothes. Suffice to say she has designed men's wear (Inspirations for Men) on a very ethnic note, swimwear when the mood takes her, fun clothes and elegant evening wear. Her next project, still she says very much in the embryo stage is a line of preggy dresses. The ethnic wear for men, she explains has proved hugely popular, 'much better than the stuffy shirts and ties.'

Well known for work with the Mirror Magazine covers, Purnima smilingly reveals that in the past few years she has notched up over a hundred. This is work she loves, and where she can draw on her training in London as a hair and make-up artiste. "It's not only the person whom we feature, it's the whole image that we are trying to create. So when we design a cover, we look for so many details, the period, whether the model will suit the kind of look we have in mind etc." She feels that Lankan models are getting to be very versatile and experienced in handling different assignments.

And now the big question that one has to ask a designer. What's in vogue now? Purnima knows it's coming and is ready, armed with knowledge garnered from regular visits to New York and London. "Hemlines are just skimming the knee and dresses are multi-layered and transparent," she smiles.

The Cure for Split Ends

The only way to get rid of split ends is to cut off the hair beyond the point of the splits. Split ends occur when the individual cell layers of the hair shaft separate. There is no known way to permanently stick them back together. A hair product such as a conditioner may temporarily "glue" split ends together, but the ends will separate again after a few hours or days, especially after the next shampoo.

Long hair is more apt than short hair to be plagued with split ends because it has been subjected to more abuse over a longer period of time, so one way to minimize split ends is to wear a short, hairstyle. Regular haircuts should keep split ends under control.

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