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| Sunday, 11 January 2004 |
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New designers : Achitecture of the dagabas my inspiration Sri lanka is a land with a history like no other, where priceless gems are found and majestic waterfalls emerge out of the least expected nooks and corners. It is also the land where Buddhism, the greatest philosophy ever, is still in its purest form.
Her inspiration has been drawn from Buddhist philosophy, "The challenge of doing a set of creations without any sacrilege to my religion inspired me to continue with my work." She always kept the idea of the dagaba in her mind and drew inspiration from it for her concepts in designing. She has included the many forms of the dagaba in her dresses and in her style lines. The fact that Buddhist philosophy is for everyone irrespective of caste, creed or any religion for that matter, gives it an universal appeal, says Esha.
Esha talks about her outfits, "The avant-garde gives us freedom to utilise any kind of material to create a total, out-of-this world outfit. I've used flowers to add more beauty and beads that run upto the pinnacle symbolising one's thoughts. But these creations are merely supposed to be exhibits. It is definitely not a practical outfit" she stresses. Her idea has been merely to paint the true beauty of a philosophy that helped Lord Buddha to attain the absolute bliss of Nirvana. It's something I would not want anyone to wear under any circumstances. Models just walked on the ramp with an idealistic creation which is not practical in any sense of the word. Her first pret is a skirt which is narrow from the bottom to keep in line with her inspiration of the dagaba with a touch of the four colours to show the different ethnic groups. The wraparound skirt shows the triangular effect of the dagaba. The second pret is very different from the first. It is a short top which has a pointed front. It is narrow "A" line skirt that takes the shape of a pinnacle and the third pret has a skirt which is studded with beads at the bottom. The top has a totally different shape,"she explains. Esha says that her ideas are all her own and she has not been influenced by anybody and they have always been original. "At the beginning it was just making dresses out of things that I used to cut. Then I was sent to a dressmaker where I learnt to stitch, then I started my own dressmaking and launched a label titled 'Nina" three years back. However, she says that it was LIFT that helped to get herself organised and do things in a professional manner. LIFT has given me ample publicity and she is very grateful to LIFT for this. Although now wanting to be a professional designer, at the beginning designing clothes was just a hobby. But now she has taken a professional approach "I'm my own boss" says the independent woman in her. She personally feels that fashion has no direction in Sri Lanka. "People just don't know what to create. My outfits were created with a theme and I stuck to it. Imitating or creating stuff that already exists doesn't make a difference. If we want to reach out to the world as Sri Lankans, we've got to have our identity. She talks of the scarcity of Sri Lankan designs, and protests that what people want is the same old thing they see on television or things that are already popular which is then not original. She believes that there is a time and place for fashion. It's hot and sunny most of the time in Sri Lanka yet you see lots of people in sweaters. What's ideal to wear here would be casual clothes" she said. Her sole aim is to open a shop where she will be able to create her own stuff to cater to the upper middle class. Wrapping things up she says, that it is interesting to do something practical, "Practicality is the key word, fashion is a passion and I haven't forgotten that I am Buddhist and I only presented a Buddhist philosophy through my collection. I would never do anything that would bring disgrace and dishonour to my religion" she said. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
The dagabas, one of the splendid creations of the ancient architects
remain unique and inspiring. In my collection under the topic "Sri
Lankan identity," I chose to show the Buddhistic elements which could
be blended into designing. Buddhism has been in Sri Lanka for over 2500
years, I wanted to talk about Buddhism in my collection and the dagabas
seemed the most appropriate theme," says Esha Wewala, a young person
who has acquired the essence of design from the Lanka Institute of Fashion
Designing (LIFT).
Being a true Buddhist at heart, she says she did not want to exclude
the multiethnic generation in Sri Lanka and decided to represent these
four groups with four colours that are usually used to represent these
religious groups. "I have used red, green, yellow ad white to do
justice to the four ethnic groups' she said. The dome shape of the dagaba
is beautifully created in Esha's collection and the pinnacle is depicted
in the style lines. "I've created a collection of evening wear with
my own ideas cause I did not want to steal anybody else's ideas. When I
create an outfit, I make sure it stands out and gives the person who wears
it a different individual and outstanding look and that's the beginning of
a creation for me" she grins.
