Biz Buds

Fashion designing a lucrative business

Ramani Kangaraarachchi

Fashion designing is a lucrative business in any country and fashion designers can easily find employment especially in Western countries.

However, Anupama Nawalage, a young talented fashion designer who is keen to protect and promote the traditional Dumbara Weaving through her fashion designs feels she can do much more and better in her own country.

Anupama was interviewed by Daily News Business for Biz Buds.

The only child in the family Anupama hails from Gampaha. She had her secondary education at Devi Balika Vidyalaya, Colombo and obtained a Bachelor of Design (Hons) degree with the highest overall GPA for the 2006/7 batch from the University of Moratuwa.

Her mother is a teacher and her father works for a private company. Her parents wanted Anupama to become a doctor but her love for Fashion Design from her childhood was greater.

Weaving family

Elaborating on how she was attracted to Dumbara Weaving, she said during her graduation examination in Fashion and Textile Design she realised the richness of indigenous Dumbara Weaving tradition in Sri Lanka.

This interest continued even after the project and she wanted to bring traditional Dumbara Weaving in to the limelight of the fashion industry where it could be reinterpreted in keeping with modern trends, she said.

Anupama’s dissertation was about Sri Lanka’s Hand Weaving Industry with the introduction of the open economy. She lived in the Thalagune village in the Kandy district with a weaving family for some time developing textiles and helping the weavers to understand the market requirements and developed the products.

“They were doing good business before the open economy and were perplexed when imported items flooded the market replacing their products, she said.

They were surprised to hear that this type of trade can be learnt in the university and appreciated the support very much. They used a very thick kind of yarn to make cushions and wall hangers and she introduced a thin yarn to make them more attractive instead.

After graduation Anupama invested Rs. 500,000 to develop her project as a business with a family from the Thalagune village. This provided an income and knowledge to the villagers. She employed five people at the inception and with the expansion of the business she has given employment to thirty people.

Many opportunities

In 2008 Anupama got the opportunity to present her collection at the launch of the International Young Fashion Entrepreneur 2008 conducted by the British Council and was selected as one of the seven finalists. “This created many opportunities for me.”

Anupama Nawalage

Managing Director Odel, Otara Gunawardena offered space in her store for her design collection and she launched her first collection of Woven Dumbara Bags at Odel under her own brand 90F in April last year, she said. It included an accessories collection, shawls, cushions, wall hangers and a range of bags in different shapes to go with Dumbara weaving.

She has received export orders from Malaysia for interior decor and Australia for bags which are significant milestones.

Challenges

Asked about the challenges, she said that walking the tight rope between preserving the uniqueness of the craft and incorporating the latest trends in fashion is a challenge, I did not want to change the traditional colours used in Dumbara weaving black, white, red, green and yellow were used for the textile designs with a little touch of silver.

Asked about the barriers to promote her business, she said people do not know much about this product. Therefore, an intensive advertising campaign is necessary, she said.

Another challenge is that in today’s high-tech consumer society traditional or highly sophisticated cultural segment values ethnic products. But in most instances weavers do not receive a feedback from consumers as the products are sold by the intermediaries away from the village, she said.

Anupama is a freelance designer for NEXT and the Favourite Group and is a visiting lecturer for the Fashion and Textile Design course at the University of Moratuwa. She is also a consultant for a German NGO to upgrade the handloom products of weavers in Marathamunai in the Ampara district and for weavers in the Central, Southern, Eastern and Sabaragamuwa provinces.

As a creative entrepreneur Anupama is set for a long journey in the industry with her 90F brand and lends a helping hand to the local weaving community by upgrading their living standards.