OH COLOMBO! By Koluu

We have come back to that time of year when the HSBC Colombo Fashion Week hits the runway. Ten years have gone by and Ajai is all charged up with this year’s show. When he speaks about his journey of the last ten years he is happy with the commitment he made with the objective of being the only show to uplift the Sri Lankan fashion industry.

What he is most proud of is how everything is planned to groom young and deserving talent, guiding them and exposing them in the international fashion scene whilst creating a local market in Sri Lanka.  In Fashion Week there is also an award to young talent called Gen next so that there will always be a steady flow of young designers. Dimuthu Sahabandu and Dineth who have won the award in previous years have shown signs of growth in their work and have been provided with an international platform and exposure by CFW as a part of their award.

Alex Eckhart President Fashion TV of Asia who came last year quoted that CFW is one of the best and most innovative fashion weeks in Asia. Ajai is also happy that current fashionistas, unlike many years ago, are happy to wear clothes from Sri Lankan designers with pride.

This year there will be thirty designers showcasing their work including Nish De Gruiter and Randika Perera Hernandez, both Sri Lankans who have taken the fashion scene with a storm with their innovative and great work internationally. Apart from many other Sri Lankan designers showcasing their line of clothing there will be designers from Spain, India, and Bangladesh.

Two weeks ago Bibi Russell who has showcased at CFW for several years was recognized as one of the top ten women in the world to have changed the world of fashion. The models this year will be from Europe, Latin America, India and many from Sri Lanka as the standards of our local models have improved a lot which gives the organizers immense satisfaction.

With all great events of this magnitude comes a lot of adverse talk and criticism. I did ask Ajai what he thinks of this.  He chuckled and happily said that “I ignore these comments.  In any profession or field you will find this happening and when you get down to the root of it, it comes from non-achievers who have tried to get to the top of their chosen field and failed.” He said he was happy with his achievement, development and the great progress he has made with this project.  CFW has tie ups with the Mercedes Benz fashion week, Miami fashion week, Karachi, Malaysia and Dubai to name a few and our local designers will get the opportunity to show case their work at these fashion weeks. The show is mainly for consumers of the fashion industry and the HSBC Bank being sponsors have the privilege of inviting their premier customers.

Apart from HSBC and the host hotel the Hilton, Krrish, Range Rover, Colombo Jewelry Stores, Dulux, P&G, Avirate, Aqua Island, British council, Shift, Leo Burnett are sponsors.

Wijeya newspapers are the media sponsors and Ramani Fernando and her Salons will be in charge of all hair and makeup.

Good luck Ajai and to your entire team and I will be looking forward to seeing your show as usual this year too.

HSBC CFW – 3, 4, 5 April

The hostess with the mostess

It was a great lunch hosted by the one and only Padma Maharajah last Saturday at the Kingsbury. Padma was the perfect hostess, fussing around all her guests making sure that they were all looked after with plenty of pre-lunch cocktails followed by a buffet lunch where there was an ample spread and plenty of good wine.

All the elegant ladies at the lunch were dressed in great style and with appropriate dress sense for a luncheon.  A great time was had by all. It was a good opportunity for the Kingsbury, which opened recently, to have Padma celebrating her event at the Hotel since it was an eye opener for many of the guests who had come over for the first time to taste Kingsbury’s lunch spread on a Saturday.

Having the curry queen Felicia at our table got us a bit of extras too. A great time was had by all and directly after the lunch many of us took off to Colomboscope at Park Street Mews organized by Ashok Ferry which was a tremendous successful.