National Crafts Council of Sri Lanka partners with HSBC Colombo Fashion Week

HSBC Colombo Fashion Week, which is in its 10th year, seen as the back bone of Sri Lanka's fashion design industry, has consistently unearthed, groomed, showcased and promoted Sri Lankan fashion design talent. In its journey to put Sri Lankan fashion on the global stage and have it recognised, HSBC Colombo Fashion Week continues to stretch the skill set and talents of Sri Lankan fashion designers by creating another season, Resort Wear, which is globally being recognised and showcased.

Focusing on the area of developing crafts and textile is not new, as CFW started putting emphasis on the development of the local industry in 2007. Today a partnership with National Crafts Council formalizes a new journey of stepping up the initiative of developing the local crafts and textiles industries. HSBC Colombo Fashion Week partners with the National Crafts Council of Sri Lanka in 2013 to not only showcase local crafts and textile, but to integrate the two with fashion.

The key theme both CFW and National Crafts Council will work on this year will be “Textile and Craft in Fashion”.  Spearheaded by the Chairman of the National Crafts Council of Sri Lanka Mr Buddhi Keerthisena, the initiative is an exciting one as the combination of the two mediums only augur well for the fashion and crafts industry as a whole. “I am very happy with this partnership. This is a very important trend even around the world where local crafts and textiles are working closely with the fashion industry, hence this collaboration with Colombo Fashion Week, will open new doors for the local crafts and textiles community and will be mutually beneficial specially after seeing the final proposed plan” said Mr Buddhi Keerthisena, Chairman National Crafts Council Sri Lanka.

The key theme both CFW and National Crafts Council will work on this year will be “Textile and Craft in Fashion”.  Spearheaded by the Chairman of the National Crafts Council of Sri Lanka Mr Buddhi Keerthisena, the initiative is an exciting one as the combination of the two mediums only augur well for the fashion and crafts industry as a whole. “I am very happy with this partnership. This is a very important trend even around the world where local crafts and textiles are working closely with the fashion industry, hence this collaboration with Colombo Fashion Week, will open new doors for the local crafts and textiles community and will be mutually beneficial specially after seeing the final proposed plan” said Mr Buddhi Keerthisena, Chairman National Crafts Council Sri Lanka.

There will be a number of objectives around the partnership. The first objective is to have knowledge-sharing sessions between local and international designers and local artisans. With these sharing sessions, designers will be selected on the premise that they already are in the business of sustainable fashion working with the local crafts community in their respective locations; hence providing a wealth of insights to local artisans. The goal from these sessions would be for local artisans to have new approaches and ideas to their craft and innovate in order to be more commercially viable.

There will be a number of objectives around the partnership. The first objective is to have knowledge-sharing sessions between local and international designers and local artisans. With these sharing sessions, designers will be selected on the premise that they already are in the business of sustainable fashion working with the local crafts community in their respective locations; hence providing a wealth of insights to local artisans. The goal from these sessions would be for local artisans to have new approaches and ideas to their craft and innovate in order to be more commercially viable.

The second objective would be to have local designers supporting the local textile and craft community by working with them from a fashion perspective. Bibi Russell from Bangladesh as an example has successfully implemented this vision and even markets under the slogan “Fashion for Development and Positive Bangladesh”. Closer to home, the idea would be to provide the necessary exposure commercially by integrating local designers and artisans within the fashion realm in turn generating more returns for the local crafts fraternity.

As a kick off to the whole program, HSBC Colombo Fashion Week and the National Crafts Council of Sri Lanka will be conducting a knowledge-sharing workshop on the 6^th of October for 50 artisans and 50 aspiring designers. The workshop will be split around two key topics, the first being sharing’s from the region by designers on how they have worked with their local craft community and the second being the commercial aspect of retailing such items. The key speakers at the knowledge sharing session will be Mr Buddhi Keerthisena, Chairman National Crafts Council Sri Lanka, Bibi Russell, Indian designers Jason and Anshu and Otara Gunewardene, CEO, Odel Plc.

This partnership is for the long term with the aspiration that local textiles and craft not become a dying idea but a sustainable one. The fashion industry globally has tapped into the local crafts of many communities and has made it successful. The view is to work towards that goal in Sri Lanka.