The Mercedes Benz Fashion Runways (MBFR) 2016 kicked off on November 4 with 22 stunning travel collections by individual designers.  

The runway was lit with bold hues and bright colours as the collections presented clean cut designs combining modern and traditional elements in each piece. From handlooms and crochets to batiks and digital printings; the talent was off the charts on Day 1 of MBFR. 

Adopting the concept of ‘Travel Fashion’, MBFR aims to identify Sri Lanka as the first Travel Fashion Destination across the world.

Here are the designers who showed tonight!

 

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Nithya Lamahewa - Tour In Ceylon

A fashion brand exploring the potential of traditional Sri Lankan crafts, the brand was launched in 2012. Her collection gained its inspiration from the Colombo cityscapes, art, street style and architecture. 

“This time it’s a combination of low tech and high tech. My inspiration came from Sri Lankan elements like the special places, the tuktuks and the clock towers.” 

 

 

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Rumpunch - Discover Your Island Spirit

A designer swimwear and activewear brand, Rumpunch is the label launched by Rukshika Fernando in 2015. The brand embodies trendy, lightweight and comfortable swimwear and active wear in bold designs and vibrant trims. The brand also hopes to explore opportunities in new markets such as Seychelles, Maldives and Mauritius. 

 

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Kat Scott - Glass Islands

A graduate from the Edinburgh College of Art in Printed Textile Design, her main passion is ethical and sustainable fashion.

“I lived in Sri Lanka for 3 years so I was inspired by all the birds, all the fauna and all the tropical things over here.”

 

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Hameedia - Urban Tropics

Established in 1949, it is a leading menswear brand synonymous with style and quality. It has four brands to its name; Signature brand, LeBond brand, Envoy brand and the FH brand. Hameedia has also partnered up with leading international menswear brands such as Raymond, Park Avenue, Louis Philippe, Wrangler and Adidas. 

 

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Nethmi Muramudalige - Art En-Route

A BA (Hons) Fashion graduate from Northumbria University, she is influenced by the global cultures and international styling trends. Her collection was inspired by the Mexican tribe ‘Huichol’ with prints that mix traditional batik and screen printing with bold silhouettes. 

 

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Avirate - Pool Party

An international fashion brand, Avirate has 5 retail stores across Sri Lanka and has two brands to its name; Avirate Signature and Classic. Today, Avirate is expanding throughout Europe, North America and Middle East.

 

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Aqua Island - Pool Side

Aqua Island brings you swimming costumes with vibrant style routed in the contemporary design scene of Sri Lanka. Incorporating traditional handcrafted design techniques in the design to create interesting one off pieces that are both flattering and fashion forward for women of all ages. 

 

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Shehani De Silva - Modern Day Gypsy

With a contemporary mix of women’s wear and sarees, she is a designer with a fresh take on textile and uses a highly experimental route to design with a commitment to sustainability. Her collection uses silhouettes embodying a minimalistic design with fluid drapes mixed with rich colours inspired by the iris of the eye.

 

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Sajeewani Seneviratne - Island Hippie

As a designer, Sajeewani has gained experience in creating designer textiles for some of the biggest hotels, architects and interior designers across the island. She focuses on creating understated luxury fashion and her collection on the runway used soft drapes and striking colour combinations to recreate a 70's glam vibe. 

 

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Senani Wickramasinghe - Solo Travel Girl

Specialising in printed womenswear, her work is inspired by travel and adventure.  Her work is a mix of handloom and batik textiles. Her collection was inspired by temple frescos with bright colours from the murals and art playing a vital role. 

 

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Lonali Rodrigo - Maze In Style

House of Lonali is a sustainable brand up-cycling discarded fabric and trims in the Sri Lankan apparel industry. The collection took inspiration from Swiss artist Camille Graeser’s painting with a patched textile theme running through all looks. 

“I try to play with the little bit of colour. And under the maze theme it’s about the journey on how you find yourself to the end and so I made it have a very sporty casual style to it”

 

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Anne Mendis - Wistful Wanderer

An avid photographer and travel enthusiast, Anne’s collection captures a Bohemian inspiriation with bright hue and prints. She is also a visual artist, illustrator and a textile designer with a love for print and textile surface decoration. 

 

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Pras & Danties - For Her

Launched in 2015, the brand specialises in Batik printed lingerie and resort wear. Inspired by the geometry and scenic beauty of Marrakech, Morrocco the collection has a luxurious Bohemian feel to it. Early this year, the brand launched their first Batik bridal and loungewear collection. 

“Based around Sinhala graphics with numbers. The batik craft is something personal to me and I wanted to bring in the Sinhala text to really highlight the Sri Lankan-ness in the collection and at the same time I wanted to make the collection very feminine.” 

 

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Prabath Samarasooriya - Unruffled City

A graduate of Northumbria University in the UK with first Upper Class honours, Prabath’s fashion collections have graced both local and international runways such as in London, Austria, Hyderabad, Kochi and Chennai. He is a maestro in hand woven textile and his collection on the runway bore witness to it. 

 

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Jane Gottelier For Coats Jewellery By Wright & Teague – Beachcraft

A master of Fashion and Knitwear design at DeTao Masters Academy, her collection featured crochet swimwear. Jewellery for the collection was by Wright and Teague.  

 

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Isuru Liyanage - The Road Not Taken

Graduate of the Northumbria University, he is inspired by shape and form and the modern lifestyle. His graduate collection showcased in both London and Shanghai and he later designed for Tommy Hilfiger sportswear before joining Urban Island as Head of Design. 

 

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Ishara Jayathilake - Nostalgic Weekend

A first class AOD graduate, she showcased her graduate collection at London Graduate Fashion Week in 2015. Today, she has her own brand titled ‘ODD’. Her collection contained all kinds of hand touched details with clean and simple silhouettes. 

 

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Wedding Dreams - Island Bride

The largest bridal store in Sri Lanka, the collection on the runway presented a white wedding theme with lace and worked embroidery. 

 

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Raidha Shafeeg - Water And Wave

From Maldives, Raidha’s collection followed a blue and white colour pattern in line with the water and wave theme.

“My collection is based on the ocean. It goes from a lighter blue shade to a very darker shade over the course of the collection to represent water and wave.” 

 

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Hafsa Ameer - The Destination Denim

A graduate of Northumbria University with Honors in Fashion and Textile, she has her own label ‘White by Hafsa’ specialising in bridal wear for over 5 years.  Inspired by all things denim, she launched her exclusive denim wear line at the runways. 

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Prabath Samarasooriya - Holiday Nomads

 

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Shilanthi Abayagunawardana - Dance Of Life

One of the most senior textile designers in the country, she has over 30 years of experience in the textile industry. She was awarded the Textile Design Award in 1983 at the Ontario College of Arts in Canada and over the years she had shared her expertise in textile design with universities and fabric studios such as Barefoot and Jewel Knits. 

“The collection is based on masks and because of that I called it the dance of life.”

 

Pics by Manoj Rathnayake and Nisal Baduge

Check out Day 2 here.