Sri Lanka Design Festival in London
The 2010 Sri Lanka Design Festival (SLDF), organized by the Academy
of Design and sponsored by MAS Holdings with the support of the Sri
Lankan Government, launched last week at the Royal Society in London.
At Sri Lanka Design Festival launch |
The SLDF will be held from November 11-17 in Sri Lanka, and promises
to offer sourcing opportunities for fashion manufacturing as well as
show casing other areas of Sri Lankan design such as crafts and
jewellery.
A key focus of the Sri Lankan garment industry is its approach to
ethical fashion, with the country billed by industry body Sri Lanka
Apparel as the world’s first ethical apparel sourcing destination, and
SLDF has initiated a new award for ethical fashion design which will be
presented at the event.
The London launch event was hosted by the British Council, which
works in partnership with SLDF, and featured presentations on the Sri
Lankan garment industry from a number of speakers including British
Council Sri Lanka Director Gill Westaway, Sri Lanka Apparel Chair of
Marketing Initiatives Kumar Mirchandani, MAS Holdings Chairman Mahesh
Amalean, - Sustainable Fashion Specialist Claire Hamer and SLDF founder
Linda Speldewinde, who said; “With an island blessed with natural
beauty, a recorded history of 2500 years, a breadth of arts and crafts
that is incomparable for its size, a word renowned fashion manufacturing
industry coupled with investments it has made developing its design
capabilities, Sri Lanka is ready to make its unique contribution to the
world of fashion and design”.
The session was chaired by Colin McDowell, one of the world’s leading
fashion commentators and brand ambassador for Sri Lanka Design Festival
2010. |