Ladies Runway has to be one of the more unique online retailers on Facebook. The store offers a combination of branded and their own label product lines across women swear with new collections being introduced on a weekly basis.

This is a boutique where customers can not only purchase beautiful designer wear but can also get custom made items like dresses, tops, pants, sarees and jackets based on their personal preferences, and be sure that same design will never be recreated again.

To complete the outfit, Ladies Runway also specializes in designing personalized accessories such as clutch bags which are handmade and earrings, bangles, shoes etc to match the custom made dress.

Speaking to owner and designer Shamilka, she tells me all designs are selected based on the latest global trends with customization and a little bit of localization to bring the uniqueness factor into the product line.

“We at LR believe that Sri Lankan women deserves to be in line with the latest fashion trends but at an affordable price. We are not into mass production. Fabrics are mostly bought locally in Sri Lankan, India and Bangkok, and production is outsourced at the moment. However, due to tremendous feed backs by our customers, we hope to open our own production house from 2013 by giving employment opportunities to a few people at LR.” Shamilka explained.

Another unique factor about the store is that they also offer fashion tips accordingly to each customer based on their personal preferences and designs of choice. Shimalka hopes to tie up with a fashion academy in the future to introduce fashion designing courses to customers, thereby making Ladies Runway a one stop shop for everyone.

Purchasing from LR is a very simple sales process at the moment. The product catalog is updated weekly on the FB page, and once a customer places the order through either mail or email, items can either be delivered or made available for pick up in the Colombo area. 

The future for Ladies Runway is looking bright; with a high demand for products, they have slowly grown from a starter business to a small scale operation, and are continuesly looking for ways to improve and expand the line.

“We have already invested in machinery and a location to increase the production line. We are in the process of recruiting skilled labour and are also hoping to upgrade the eCommerce platform of LR which enables a personalized customer buying experience across all customer touch points, including the web, mobile devices, social media, physical stores (a small outlet is coming soon towards the 2nd half of 2013),” said Shimalka.

A new elegant collection called Shimalka is also on the way in the very near future, which will target stylish women in search of originality. Although it certainly sounds like it, mass production is not the goal for LR. The idea is to simply improve services to their niche clientele. With all this work for 2013, their next milestone for going beyond Sri Lanka are already in the pipeline.

You can find the store at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/LADIES-RUNWAY/194577863967281?fref=ts

By Lake Argent