A chat with Melissa Jayatilake 

Melissa Jayatilake is a young entrepreneur who recently launched a fashion and fitness clothing brand named Bodé Activ Apparel. Having graduated in Fashion Marketing and Management from Raffles Design Institute, she realised her dream of pursuing her own career, after working in the fashion industry and gaining an understanding of the industry she was about to enter. Bodé Activ Apparel is a lifestyle and activewear clothing brand that brings stylish and comfortable clothing for men and women who lead an active lifestyle. 

Today we speak to Melissa Jayatilake, an amazingly talented apparel designer of the exclusive brand Bodé Activ Apparel. We're excited to share her insights on design and production. 

Photograph by Dylan Seedin 

Tell us about yourself and how you came to pursue Bodé Activ Apparel as your career. 

I think my love for working out at the gym and my love for fitness combined with my passion for fashion really drove me to pursue a career where I could push myself to create something that I could really enjoy doing. 

Can you describe how Bodé Active Apparel first came about. 

Having studied Fashion Marketing and Management (BA Hons) at Raffles Design Institute, I created the brand Bodé Activ Apparel as part of my Final Major Studio project. I carried out all the research and testing required to run a fully-fledged business and this led to my desire and drive to make this brand a reality. With the support of my life and business partner, Chathura Samarasinghe, we have both worked really hard together to create this brand. 

Tell us a little about your recent brand launch for the activewear collection for 2016. 

For our 2016 collection, which consists of styles for men and women both, we started off with launching our social media pages; Facebook and Instagram. We will be launching our website within the month of April, which will be one of our main sales platforms. We are not only focusing on the local market, but the international market as well. Our website will offer worldwide shipping and we are currently working on some marketing campaigns that will take place outside of Sri Lanka to create more awareness to the international market. 

What else keeps you busy outside of your activewear designs? 

I not only handle the designing of the garments but I am very much involved in the sourcing, manufacturing, marketing, finance and accounting sides of the brand as well, along with my partner, Chathura. Therefore I am quite busy throughout the day with meetings and being stuck on my laptop for hours with work, however I definitely make time to hit the gym 5 times a week as well as go out for dinner on the weekends with my friends and family. 

Are you a health and fitness enthusiast? Where did your love for stylish activewear come from? 

I am very passionate about health and fitness and I am always trying to push myself in the fitness arena to reach my aesthetic goals. Having stylish, comfortable gym apparel only makes the process more fun. There are so many great brands out there and I think looking good at the gym just gives you more confidence to get the body you want. 

How would you describe an ideal Bodé Activ Apparel persona? 

I would say someone who is conscious of how they look, interested in fitness but not particularly partake in it. Someone who has a busy lifestyle and apart from work life, they need comfortable clothes that look good on the run. Bodé Activ Apparel is not only for gym goers but for those who lead an active lifestyle. The seams between lifestyle wear and activewear are slowly fading as more people go out in a pair of sports pants and a sports tee to do regular things like grocery shopping. 

How would you say the world of fashionable fitnesswear has changed in the last few years? 

I think when it comes to fashionable fitness, there is a whole new market that has boomed. With the use of social media platforms such as Instagram, fitness athletes, models and fitness clothing brands have taken their game to another level. There is so much competition in the industry and all the fitness athletes are promoting themselves which goes without saying that they need stylish activewear. Fitness clothing brands are also constantly endorsing athletes, providing them with the latest styles, which is a very helpful marketing tool in creating brand awareness. There is also so much development in the clothing itself, with companies coming up with new innovations all the time. From seamless fabrics to temperature controlling wear, the possibilities are limitless and this changes the game entirely. 

What's next for Bodé Activ Apparel? 

At the moment we are working on getting some new styles out, especially bottoms such as shorts, capris and yoga pants as our current launch collection was mostly tops/tanks. We are also heavily focusing on our website launch which is due to take place in April. Our next step is carrying out small marketing campaigns outside Sri Lanka to create brand awareness on an international platform. Our goal is to create a brand with international recognition and we are excited to embark on this long journey. 

By Sandra De Zilva 
Bodé Activ Apparel photographs by Arantha Sirimanne