Ajai is busy planning the line-up and program for the Colombo Fashion Week (CFW) this year. In a conversation with him he mentioned to me many new things that are in store for the buyers and eager fashionistas of Colombo.  

This year the activities have been extended to six days from three days and CFW will be from 3 to 8 February. 

Following is what he had to say about the week long program:

THE BRIGHTSPARK SHOWS on 3, 4, 5 Feb: As part of CFW's new initiative with education institutes called CFW Day, which guides fashion design students. We started Bright Spark shows which is to showcase high potential designers just out of design schools.

This I feel is a good step before they get on the main platform and rub shoulders with the best.  The response has been overwhelming.  There are 11 Brightspark shows, 3 or 4 each every evening at the Hilton Thorana Lounge.  A ramp is being created and the show would not be like Title Tattle.

FASHION AND FOOD  which will be from the 3^rd to the 8^th of February introducing a concept of food influenced by design.  For Fashion and Food we invite a celebrity chef and a mixologist, with experience and repute.

Jodi Ann Pearton from South Africa and a French mixologist will be involved in creating three kinds of menus. Some of the highlights would be a menu at Spoons and a Fashion High Tea  at the foyer during main show breaks. 

This of course would in association with The Hilton Colombo.

The MAIN SHOWS will be on the 6, 7, 8 of February.  There will be 9 to 10 shows every evening totaling 28 shows over three nights.

It will be a good mix of established Sri Lankan designers, new Sri Lankan designers and International designers.

The key Sri Lankan Designers are the following: Ramona Oshini, Indi, KT Brown, Upeksha, Yoland, Sonali Dharmwardena, Catherine Rawson, Dimuthu, Charini, Middle Finger, Fouzul Hameed, Otara, Deneth, Arra, Yasisurie, Akram CJS, Amilani, Radhika, Arugam Bay.

International Designers: Agatha Ruiz De La Prada from Spain, Krishna Mehta from India, Margareth & Moi from France, Jenjum Gadi  from India The popular Bibi Russell from

Bangladesh, Mevan Kaluarachchi a Sri Lankan (now a Dutch citizen) who is famous in Europe and from Pakistan Rizwan.

CRAFTS IN FASHION: A new program with the National Crafts Council that was kick started at the Resort Show in Galle goes to the next level at CFW 2014, with Ramona and Indi collaborating with craftsmen to showcase their collections.

Based on this there will also be a workshop with an expert on weaving from India, Ramona Jaitley,  who has had exhibitions in London and Paris.

FASHION TALKS: Under this banner there are two workshops: 

One is the Fashion Media workshop conducted by Nonita Kalra, Editor-in-Chief ELLE.  This is focused on young journalists starting their careers in Fashion Journalism. This will be interesting.

The other is Textile Weaving with Romanie Jaitley: This is self-explanatory.

CFW CURATES: An online retail portal which is being curated by CFW in association with Wow.

It is based on international fashion retail portals.

This will give access to all fashion consumers to buy interesting pieces from the designer's collections.

The models will be both local and international, with hair and makeup by Ramani Fernando Salons

The Key partners this year are, HSBC, Brandix, Hilton, Dialog, Land Rover, CJS, Odel, Wineworld, VisionCare, FashionTV, Hameedias, British Council, Leo Burnett, iPhone, Alliance Francaise, French Embassy, Daily Mirror, Sunday Times, Financial Times, HI, HI TV.