International Affairs

The Colombo Fashion Week (CFW), which started its journey in 2003, completes an important milestone as it celebrates 20 years of pioneering sustainable fashion with young innovative designers. 

The three-day fashion show from 29 March to 2 April at Shangri-La Colombo is expected to bring regional and international fashion designers together to show off their latest summer collection designs to inspire young fashion designers and the textile industry in Sri Lanka. 

The CFW 2023 summer collections by regional and international top talents will be showcased under the theme of inclusivity in growth marking the 20th edition of being a platform that promotes sustainable ecosystem.

CFW officials remarked that they are planning to hold the responsible summit as a morning session with their newly partnered company Kerry Logistics Incorporation with JAAF Joint Apparel Association Forum on the first day of the fashion week.

They also mentioned that the second two days are expected to be a surprise for spectators to witness this extravagant fashion show in different spaces of the Shangri-La hotel. The hotel being located in the heart of Colombo CFW officials believe it’s the best way to showcase Colombo as a main fashion destination. 

CFW 2023 is set to take fashion to new heights with the aim of empowering the fashion design industry.

A peek into what’s in store for the CFW 20th edition, CFW Holdings Managing Director Ajai Vir Singh said that the Italian Embassy in Sri Lanka will be recognising high potential emerging designers with a special award this year. The Italy award marks the second year of the partnership with CFW and it’s expected to be taking place under the leadership of Italian Ambassador Rita Manella. 

“In the last 20 years, CFW has brought pride in Sri Lankan fashion, this aspect was missing when we started, today designers are household names and their creations fill wardrobes. A sustainable eco system has been created which gives hope and aspires to the younger generation to pursue design as a career. Design entrepreneurship is what we are focused on with a goal to reverse brain drain. I am so grateful to all our partners in buying into our vision and staying with us through thick and thin. Creative industries must flourish as they create soft power for Sri Lanka,” Ajai said.

The event is expected to draw international designers, models and fashion tourists from different parts of the world to witness a cultural diversity in a runway consisting of regional and South Asian fashion designers, he added. 

This year’s Colombo Fashion Week edition will stage designers from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, along with 30 Sri Lankan designers, namely Charini Suriyage, Dimuthu Sahabandu, Sonali Dharmawardena, Amilani Perera, Fouzul Hameed, Indi Yapa Abeywardena, and Asanka De Mel.

He mentioned that this interaction with international designers would encourage knowledge sharing with the fashion design industry in Sri Lanka.

Recalling how it began, Ajai said that the Colombo Fashion Week has actively developed and followed a sustainable fashion paradigm ever since 2012. It was first initiated with the Ethical Fashion Day, the Responsible Fashion Summit, the Sustainable Tool, and the Responsible Meter which was introduced in 2020. 

He highlighted that the CFW takes the pride of recognising regional talents and to be first in the fashion industry to create pathways for emerging Sri Lankan designers, and encouraging young designers to pursue fashion as a career. 80% of innovative young designers in Sri Lanka are the product of CFW design development platform, he added. 

Speaking about the vision of CFW, Ajai said that the 11 years of efforts to make this platform one of the most sustainable platforms in the world was a positive progress. Over the years high profile designers from Europe, Australia and Asia have showcased their designs through this platform. 

He also made a special announcement at the official launch of CFW 2023 that previously they are referred to and known as HSBC Colombo Fashion Week, and this year they decided to revamp their branding as Colombo Fashion Week 2023 presented by Mastercard. 

Explaining the loyal partnership between HSBC Premier and Mastercard, Ajai said two of the partners play an important role for the CFW and HSBC Emerging Fund has been instrumental in supporting five new design talents to sustain themselves along with the Italy Award, which created opportunities for new designers.

“CFW also celebrates the start of an important new collaboration with the globally reputed brand Mastercard which will take a lead role in presenting CFW 2023 in a remarkable way. This year will bring forward an environment that demands innovations and creativity to move to the next level, as Sri Lankan economy looks towards revival after a year of turmoil,” he added.

Mastercard Country Manager for Sri Lanka and Maldives Sandun Hapugoda said they are in a mission to add 1 billion customers to the global digital economy by year 2025. Nurturing SMEs, MSMEs, supporting inclusive creative entrepreneurship and contributing towards preserving the environment with sustainability initiatives, are the key elements of Mastercard’s approach.

පොදු රාජ්‍ය මණ්ඩලීය දුරස්ථ අධ්‍යාපන සංවිධානයෙහි පාලක මණ්ඩලයේ ආසියානු කලාපීය නියෝජිතයා වශයෙන් අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍ය සහ පාර්ලිමේන්තු සභානායක ආචාර්ය සුසිල් ප්‍රේමජයන්ත මහතා පත් කර ඇත. මෙය අන්තර්ජාතික සංවිධානයක් විසින් මෑත භාගයේ ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයකු වෙත පිරිනමන ලද දුර්ලභ ගණයේ අවස්ථාවකි.

The Sri Lanka Tea Board, with the assistance of the Sri Lanka Embassy in Japan, showcased ‘Ceylon Tea’ at the 48th International Food and Beverage Exhibition FOODEX 2023 in Tokyo, which is the leading food and beverage tradeshow in Asia. 

The official delegation from the Department for International Trade in the UK visited the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) on 16 March to discuss the opportunities for Sri Lanka’s export sector under Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) to be launched by the Government of UK.

Former US President Donald Trump says he is expecting to be arrested on Tuesday in a case about alleged hush money paid to an ex-porn star.

ශ්‍රි ලංකාවේ සංචාරක කර්මාන්තය පිළිබඳ ගවේෂණාත්මක චාරිකාවක් සඳහා දිවයිනට පැමිණි ජපාන දූත පිරිස සංචාරක හා ඉඩම් අමාත්‍ය හරීන් ප්‍රනාන්දු මහතා හමු වී තිබේ.