Sunday OBSERVER Fashion Designer - 2010:

One week for semis

By Thulasi MUTTULINGAM

Four... Three... Two... One... Countdown! Just one more week to go before the much anticipated semi finals of the Sunday Observer Fashion Designer of the year. Contestants from all over the country have applied!

Anne Lambert

"I keep getting calls at all hours of the day. They are so enthusiastic and keen, I am looking forward to meeting all of them," says the show's founder Chula Nanayakara Ariyaratne. The semis, at which 20 applicants will be selected to go on to the final show is scheduled for Tuesday, August 31. The venue is the Sovereign Hotel, Rajagiriya at 9.00 am. All those who applied are to walk in with a portfolio of their sketches. Good Luck!

The show is now in its sixth consecutive year and has gone on to launch many a budding fashion designer onto the field by giving them a break on the much needed publicity and exposure.

It's not about whether you are the winner, first runner up or second runner up, all those who participate in the final show will get a chance to make their presence felt; to be noticed and covered by the media as well as the movers and shakers in the fashion industry.

So if you have an innate talent for fashion design, here's your chance. Male or female, under age or mature, professionally qualified or not, all you need to enter the Sunday Observer Fashion Designer of the Year - and even walk away the winner - is talent, pure and simple. Many a dream has taken wing on the stage of the Sunday Observer Fashion Designer of the Year in previous years. Now, it's time for twenty more to launch theirs.

One thing I keep hearing again and again in the writing of this series is how difficult it is to shortlist the contestants to 20 - and again to narrow it down to three winners, as the standard shown by all the applicants are so extremely high. At the end of the day, it's not about winning, which only a very few can do, but about making your dream come true.

One contestant who did not win any place on the show but has nevertheless made a place for herself in the local fashion scene is 25 year old Anne Lambert.

Anne had always had a natural gift for art and design; her main field of interest was jewellery designing. When she called in at the Academy of Design to pursue this interest, she got sidetracked by their fashion design course and did a diploma on that first.

She has since gone on to do a diploma in jewellery design as well and is currently doing her degree in Fashion Designing which she will complete in November.

In between these courses, she came upon the advertisement for the Sunday Observer Fashion Designer of the Year, which she applied for in 2007.

She was one of the 10 finalists and apart from her diploma graduation show, this was the first show she participated in.

She too has the same praise and appreciation for the show that all the contestants of differing years have voiced; that it was a great breakthrough in terms of learning and exposure and provided a platform to showcase one's talents.

She currently freelances as both a fashion and jewellery designer and has this piece of advice for the next batch of contestants; 'Work hard, you need hard work as well as talent to make it in this competition. It is a good platform to showcase your talents so make the best of your opportunity.'

The official sponsors for the show this year are Singer Sri Lanka while Ranjan Dedigama of Gems and Jewels (Pvt) Ltd, Maharagama is the sponsor for the office wear segment. Ramzi Rahaman is the official hairdresser / make up artist and Coca-Cola Beverages Sri Lanka Ltd is the Beverage Partner.

Chula Nannayakara Ariyaratne can be contacted on 0776325118 or 2692153 for any clarifications.