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Yolande’s collection, photo by Smriti Daniel.

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At Colombo Fashion Week, seven year olds with iPhones have been stealing all my shots. I finally just gave up and gave the camera to Smriti Daniel of the Sunday Times. She took some amazing photos. In focus and with faces. Blowing. My. Mind.

All photos are by Smriti (with my camera) unless otherwise noted

Rizwan Beyg

Rizwan Beyg’s collection.

People clapped during this show, which was the first I saw. When it first came on I thought it was the usual Indian auntie attire, but it’s actually quite flowy and fleet foxy.

Arugam Bay

Arugam Bay (along with Conscience and Stringhopper) is run by Ajai Singh and Dirk Flamer-Caldera, the organizers of Colombo Fashion Week. That plus its bright brand presence made them crowd favorites. Singh’s vision is to make Colombo a South Asian fashion hub with a focus on summer and resort wear, so Arugam Bay is a flagship of sorts. It also doesn’t hurt that Dirk’s son Adam models for them, and he’s probably the best male model around. Also a really nice and intelligent guy, studying to be a doctor. Anyways. A-Bay.

Yolande

Sri Lankan designer Yolande received a Lifetime Achievement Award at this CFW. Her stuff also, I thought bordered on the ethnic ordinary, but it’s actually fairly cool. She had this dhoti style sarong pants (for men) that I’d actually kinda like.

And

And that’s about all. Please note that, like my coverage of yesterday’s shows, this is idiosyncratic and not comprehensive. I missed the beginning, too a bunch of useless shots of good stuff, and finally passed the camera to Smriti to do a better job.

The photo above is one of mine, it’s the new amateur photographer – filling my niche with much more social approval – the seven year girl. For more photos, check out the gallery below. Again, if it’s good it’s Smriti’s:

So

Good fashion week. I talked to some designers and they’re actually selling their work to buyers from Sri Lanka, India, Dubai, Malaysia, and all over. Colombo Fashion Week is a trade fair more than an art show, and it’s good that the fashion business (which employs thousands) is growing, and has a space to grow.