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For Part Deux (with better photos) click here

I’m amazed that Colombo Fashion Week has been going for almost 10 years now. According to the announcer, when they started in 2003 there were three Sri Lankan brands. This year there are 22. CFW is a cultural event that makes no attempt to disguise its elitism, unlike the Lit Fest or Art Biennale. Perhaps because this is because the fashion industry and these collections directly create thousands of jobs.

Thus, the front rows are reserved for balling HSBC clients, big buyers and international media. I managed to finagle some blogger pass through a friend of a friend and ended up in a corner, behind a six year old Chinese girl taking better pictures than me. Anyways, Fashion Week is to be seen, not heard. Here’s some stuff.

Please note that my photos are extremely idiosyncratic. For fuller coverage check out the Mirror’s Life Online.

Dineth Piuma

This is from a collection by Deneth Piuma. It’s extremely colorful stuff, made by families in Kurunegala.

Gihan Ediriweera

This flowing number is by Gihan Ediriweera. This Japanese inspired collection and others I think are available at Melache design studio. These dresses would look nice (and different) out. Sri Lankan evening wear is generally a standard form-fitting dress or form-obscuring sari. These flowing numbers manage to sorta bridge that by showing a woman’s body without entirely showing a woman’s body.

Koca

I rather liked this collection by Koca. They say it was inspired by the Galle Fort. I dunno. I thought it was clean and simple lines.

Samant Chauhan

This stuff by Indian designer Samant Chauhan was pretty class. You can see him in the plaid jacket at left. The collection also had some mens jodhpurs. I’d like to rock some jodhpurs.

Buddhi Batiks

Buddhi Batiks by Dharshi was the headliner of the event, but I’d pretty much blown my load camera battery wise by then. I have not done her saris et al justice, at all. It’s consistently excellent stuff.

Stuff I Missed

Honestly, you would not believe how many shitty, out of focus photos a person can take at a fashion thing. A lot. I missed Bibi Russell’s collection, like, entirely and didn’t do the headliner – Buddhi Batiks – justice at all. I sincerely recommend checking out the Mirror’s Life Online coverage. It’s comprehensive and these collections are worth looking at.

I did, however, get weirdness like this.

At left is a botched panorama of the Hilton, WTC, and BoC. Alternately, an earthquake. At right is a beam of light on some models.

My General Comments On The Scene

If you wanted my general comments on the scene, it was actually less pretentious than I thought it would be. As mentioned, Fashion Week doesn’t have to defend itself so much because the garment industry really does create a lot of jobs. Each collection we saw would have employed at least 10 people and more if/when they go into production. Hence it really is fine that the event is largely limited to buyers, media and the connected (ie, potential buyers).

What I noticed is that people weren’t very strikingly dressed in the audience. There were some screen print suit jackets and stuff but, honestly, nothing too notable. The entire hallway of the Hilton was, however, a strong melange of perfume. The models actually walked out of the hallway after the show. That was another fashion show of sorts, what they really wear. Shoulda gotten photos of that.

For Part Deux (with better photos) click here