 
by Tyrell Peiris
The 2008 Fashion Designer of the
Year - Ashoka Duminda Nanayakkara believes that this year’s accent on
sports-wear as an event is a welcome move because it would open the
doors in that field, with sports expanding.
“It is a good thing because sports wear is something new in fashion
designing in Sri Lanka,” said 32-year-old Ashoka.
“Sports-wear is not readily available. These are mostly in readymade
form and if one wants a particular dress, one has to make an order”,
said Ashoka. He said that introducing sports-wear at this year’s Fashion
Designer of the Year Contest would see a departure from the present
trend where sarees are particularly in vogue.
 Ashoka hails from Maharagama. He has his shop at Boralesgamuwa. He
stressed that sportswear imported to Sri Lanka needs change to be more
fashionable.
“In Sri Lanka if one wears sportswear they should be firstly
wearable. For example it can be over another dress or a jacket worn over
it. Sportwear won’t do only for modelling in a fashion sense. The
patterns could be made to differ in adding colour.
There can be a tennis shorts and sleeveless T-shirts, short shirts
and short trousers.
What is important is that sportswear can be designed so that one can
be free and relaxed to play tennis.
The dresses we see, could practically be made to look different in
diverse colours. The designer’s job is to change what we see. In that
sense there is much to be done in producing snug sportswear. The one
piece thing could be changed. Additions are needed. A pocket could be
added. Usually there are no panels.
So, a panel could be added. We can add colours and panels and totally
change such a dress to make it look attractive. The designer should
mainly be able to change what he sees.
This is one way, up and coming designers who want to be recognised
can succeed. New designers go forward creatively by their ability to
change designs. Now, this happens at school level with regard to
sportswear where different colours are used”.
Promotion
 Ashoka felt that not much had been done to promote sportswear in Sri
Lanka. The common dresses were the saree and casual and evening wear.
The demand for sportwear came from cricket while a lesser degree sports
such as volleyball and basketball created a slight market for
sportswear.
Material used
“For cricket which is the popular sport there is a particular fabric
material which is expensive. Don’t forget that attention should be paid
to the fabric used in designing sportswear. The fabric should not damage
the skin. It should also be flexible to suit the particular sport.
Therefore, I think the Sunday Observer Fashion Designer of the year
contest for 2009 would definitely be a move in the right direction in
creating and promoting more designers and sportswear to catch the
market.
I believe that sportswear could be designed in Sri Lanka to suit new
trends in demand in sports both in men’s and women’s spheres evolving
progressively from school and club to national level. Therefore, the
Sunday Observer should be commended by fashion designers for coming
forward as a principal sponsor for this coveted ‘Fashion Designer of the
Year’ contest with accent on sportswear.
Ashoka is one of several popular figures in fashion designing
following the Sunday Observer show. He won five of the six awards last
year using three colours - black, white and red designing four dresses. |
