SUNDAY Fashion Designer - 2010:

Talent in abundance

By Thulasi MUTTULINGAM

Chula Nanayakkara Ariyaratne (extreme left) with the 20 finalists in the Fashion Designer contest. Pix: Vipula Amerasinghe

Last Tuesday, August 31, saw 47 eager young contestants taking part in the Semi Final for the Sunday Observer Fashion Designer of the Year Contest. All of them were definitely talented, the difference was that some were rough diamonds, some were in the process of being polished, whilst others were already well polished.

Unfortunately, the show has space only for twenty contestants and so, deserving or not, 27 others had to go home disappointed. However, don't be disheartened. Most of you are still young, you definitely have raw talent, you just need to brush up on it. If this is truly a dream and passion for you, keep on and persevere at it. You will succeed one day.

One thing that this writer has seen, since the writing of this series and the sketches started flooding in - Sri Lanka has a lot of talent out there, in terms of fashion designing. A serious amount of talent that has obviously not been realized or utilized well, by the country yet.

The Sunday Observer Fashion Designer of the Year is one way of showcasing the talent resource available to the rest of the country, which was the objective Chula Nannayakara Ariyaratne had in mind when she founded it, but more in terms of infrastructure and support obviously needs to be done for the talented and aspiring young artistes out there.

A few, knowing clearly what they wanted to do, had enrolled or passed out of fashion design colleges but most of the participants worked other jobs. We noticed that several were from the banking and teaching professions; yet they all had an innate creative flair which only needed some help to light their sparks into a burning flame.

Talent, spirit and hope were in abundance among the crew of contestants from different walks of life and regions of Sri Lanka. Here's hoping that all those who want to make it in this as yet, out-of-the-box career of fashion designing in Sri Lanka, have enough opportunities created to match their worthy talents soon.

Many of the contestants said that they had 'always wanted to be fashion designers' and described it as their 'passion', yet many of them opted to study or had studied staid and established professions like accountancy, law or banking. As yet, they do not seem to believe, and perhaps they are right, that infrastructure, opportunities and careers are not enough in the country to wing it on concentrating on fashion design alone. Yet their passion and dedication is such that they pursue it as a serious hobby.

"This is one of the ways the media can make a difference" says Gihan Ediriweera, last year's winner of the show and a judge in this year's semi-finals. "Expose the talent on one side and the opportunities and the resources that can be built up from them on the other."

The judges (L-R) Shyamala Pinto Jayawardena Nilma Dole, Ramani Amarasuriya, Gihan Ediriweera, Thulasi Muthulingam, Michelle Gunasekera and Ravindu Denawaka.

Ramzi Rahaman, the show's official hairdresser and make up artist has another solution. "The fashion designers need to coordinate themselves to create opportunities for themselves as well as showcase their talents. We formed the Sri Lanka Association of Hairdressers and Beauticians (SLAHAB) for just such a purpose and it has been very successful. The fashion designers should do something similar to help each other, interact, have workshops etc, in order to create opportunities and take off as an industry."

Note to the contestants: Please keep in mind that the categories this year are Sports wear, Office Wear, Evening Wear and Saris. The casual wear segment has been scrapped. Owing to a misprinting in some coupons, many contestants showed up with casual wear instead of sports wear at the semi-final, which was accepted but for the finale on October 16, please make sure the category is Sports wear, not casual wear.

Good Luck to all 20 of you who have been selected. You have about a month and a half to prepare, use the time well. Keep in mind that you don't necessarily have to come up with new designs for the finale. If you prefer your semifinal sketches, you can use them.

Singer Sri Lanka is the Official sponsor of the show while Ranjan Dedigama of Gems and Jewels (Pvt) Ltd, Maharagama is the sponsor for the office wear segment. Khalil Masood, CEO of SKM Lanka Holdings (Pvt) Ltd will be the sponsor of the office wear category while Coca-Cola Beverages Sri Lanka Ltd is the Beverage Partner.

A Thank you is also in order, to Mr. Ekanayake of the BMICH, who kindly gave the Sovereign Hotel Premises for the hosting of the semi-final.

A Thank You also to judges, Shyamala Pinto Jayawardena, Michelle Gunesekera, Gihan Ediriweera, Ravindu Denawaka and Nilma Dole for sparing us your valuable time and expertise.

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