By Lake Argent

The grand finale of Sri Lanka’s Up-and-Coming Designer of the Year awards highlighted yet again the abundant young talent that is growing here in Sri Lanka. Held at Waters Edge, the finale was an extravagant night of glitz and glamour as audience members gathered for a show filled with couture designs and fun filled entertainment.Though there were minor technical glitches throughout the show, the brilliant designs outweighed any of those disturbances.


Each year a theme is given to motivate the designer’s and this year the theme was ‘Around the World’, which required each of the participants to pick a country or location to design their collection around. The first of the designs to come down the runway were the party/cocktail wear. There were plenty of vibrant colours and fabrics on show and varying styles inspired by each of the chosen countries.

The sports wear collection showed not just several great designs but they were also presented in a very memorable manner as well.

Zainab Amarrah (Founder and organizer) “The whole show went really well and I thought that all the contestants worked very hard. They were so competitive and they put up a real fight.”

Ayodhya Rathnayake (Winner) "I can’t believe it; I’m so happy and excited about this. I really don’t know what to say right now!

Designer Sharanya’s Rome inspired motorbike outfit came up the ramp on the back of a motorbike; after modelling the design the model jumped back on and rode off the ramp leaving a very surprised and amused audience.  Another design saw a dog accompany the model on the ramp, modeling its own designer sports wear.  The sports wear designs ranged from tennis outfits and golf kits to more conventional workout clothes. Next came the Summer/Resort wear, a constant theme in the designs in all categories, was the use of bright bold colours. Very few designs made use of darker shades.


After the resort category, Zainab Amarrah unveiled four designs from her second label ‘VIAA’ which was inspired by Sri Lankan woman and weaving. Each design made use of a creative weave pattern and all the clothes were designed to highlight and compliment a woman’s curves.


The last collection was the bridal couture wear; strict orders were given to all contestants that to make the bridal wear ‘authentically couture’ some aspect of hand sewing must be done on the dress. As the models came down the ramp, the hard work and effort put into the bridal wear was obvious as each design displayed skill and craftsmanship.


Judging the designers was a panel of esteemed representatives from the fashion world, Quin Williams from retailer NEXT, Sarojini Nallathamby representing sports retailer NIKE, Praveen Herat from retailers Marks & Spencer’s and Viran Perera representing Victoria's Secret. The judges were given very rigid criteria to judge all the designs. The five specific things they had to look for in them were creativity, fashion forwardness, wearable, marketability and connectivity to the theme.


Once the results were tallied, the first awards were handed out. The Best Party/Cocktail wear was awarded to Nilushi de Costa; Best Sports wear was awarded to Ayodhya Rathnayake, Best Summer/Resort wear went to Monisha Slemmermann, Best Bridal Wear went to Ayodhya Rathnayake and the Erbenizer Fan Favourite Award was won by Senurika De Silva.



First and Second runners up were awarded to Nilushi de Costa and Ama Tharindi. Finally the long awaited winner of the award for Sri Lanka’s Up & Coming Designer of the Year was announced as Ayodhya Rathnayake. Sri Lanka can look forward to more brand new, trend setting designs from this young eager designer who looks ready to make her mark in the fashion world.






Audience Comments

Ushira "It was an excellent show, there is a lot of talent here and it’s good that they are given support and a good platform. Several of the designs stood out for me so I’m really supporting them."

Verity "Though they had little experience the quality and standard is amazing. The quarter final exams were really an honest way of showing that their designs come from them.

Danu "Zainab’s designs were really cool. I’ve seen her grow step by step over the years, she’s very determined. Her new collection ‘VIAA’ was very good and strong.

Salma "I thought it was an excellent show, each of the designers were unique and lot of the collections stood out for me. I think the way they were selected to participate was extremely difficult and shows us just how talented they are and how they went through so much to get here. They really deserve it.

Mohammed Faizal "The show was enlightening for me; a friend of mine is taking part in the show so it’s giving me a new perspective on fashion in Sri Lanka. It’s great that the competition gives an opening to contestants and inspiring designers here.