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| Sunday, 21 December 2003 |
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Designs bold and bright : Puppets call the tune by Umangi de Mel
Sri Lanka inherited string puppetry from India and eventually it became very popular in the ancient times in Sri Lanka. The dramatic art form is quite a recent phenomenon in Sri Lanka and the usage of puppets for the purpose of drama was derived from folk-drama. It has no real life yet puppetry is so vibrant and the puppets mostly depict popular religious characters from the Jathaka stories.
Most of the locally made dresses are of dull shades and have plain neutral colours. Designers seem to forget that Sri Lanka has a very ancient yet colourful culture. It's a misconception that ancient things have to be depicted in dull shades," says Melshika whose theme for the collection has been 'puppets.' She questions why the Sri Lankans go for blacks and whites all the time, "I wanted to make sure that I depict the authentic ancient culture in my collection and I tried my best to give it a very ethnic look that's fused with a western touch," she adds, "That's when I found the puppets." Melshika seems to have done a profound study about her theme, "Most importantly, I saw the puppets as human beings, we are all like puppets," she explains further, "When you design, you've to look at things from different angles. I found information about puppets in Ambalangoda, Matara, the museum and on the internet," she reveals. Melshika explains her collection, "First and foremost, you've got to know that your designs can't be anywhere else, whatever you design has to be unique.
I've used the mercerized cotton to replace the normal cotton material that is usually used on puppets, since I wanted to depict the puppet effect on my collection," Melshika says. Getting very creative and going into the greatest detail about puppets, she says that she used motifs such as flowers to bring out the goodness that a simple puppet acts out and spikes are used to depict the evilness. Talking about the usage of patch work in her collection she says, that puppets are usually made of tiny pieces of cloth, "And I wanted my garments to have a resemblance to the puppets. Especially when you do a collection, you have to make sure that you pay a lot of attention to the flowers, accessories and see that whatever you use suits the outfits," she reveals. The accessories that she's used with her garments too, depict her theme, "I've used throatlets, earrings, bracelets which I had to make using wooden puppet key tags and the throatlets are made out of little strips of patchwork that makes the garments," she explains her creations adding that she's even allowed the puppets to move about.
And my third pret brings out the lifeless yet colourful features of a puppet," she points out. The avant garde brings the theme directly, she says. "I've used every little element such as patchwork, crystal beads to paint an authentic picture of ancient culture." In her eyes every designer has something to offer the world, "I don't look up to any one in particular. I respect every designer 'cos I believe that each one has the potential to present something unique to the world." Melshika had a fashionable outlook since the age of eight. "I had a dressmaker who made frilly stuff for me. I used my imagination and got her to make me certain designs I had in mind. When I look at my pictures, I feel that I have been the most fashionable person among the lot," she grins. "My mother stitches well, that kind of inspired me to put bits and pieces of cloth together, when I did things such as skirts for my friends," she says. With a knack for designing, Melshika says that she even designed cards, "I realised if I could design cards I could design dresses as well. The course director at LIFT (Lanka Institute of Fashion Technology) gave me an impressive lecture which instantly inspired me to start the course." Creating colourful visions to bring out the Sri Lankan identity, Melshika says that it was LIFT that gave her the inspiration to take to designing. "I was quite unaware of the proper ways of designing but I learnt a lot through LIFT in pattern making, draping, grading, construction designing and portfolio development. The show has been a good experience she says, when she saw her garments on the ramp for the first time, "The feeling was exhilarating and I found myself searching for words. At such an early age as twenty I never expected to come this far. I take private orders at home at the moment and next year I'm planning to do my own label. I owe all my success to my parents and my boy friend," she says. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
Making lifeless puppets come alive, twenty-year-old Melshika Pinto
Jayawardena who has created a collection of extraordinary attire most of
which hug the contours of the female figure in bright, eye-catching hues.
Puppets aren't something that would inspire anybody to design anything
at all but to me they meant something more," she said adding that
whatever she picked up for her garments has a meaning. "From the cuts
of the dresses, patterns, embroidery to the style lines and patch work...
Melshika presents her vibrant collection taking every single detail
into consideration. "My first pret highlights the good and evil and
brings out the fact that a puppet has no freedom but is being simply
manipulated by strings. My second pret has a top that is done with tussles
which represents the strings that support the puppet and help it to move
about and its skirt depicts the stage where the puppets perform.
