Driving force behind HSBC CFW 2013: The Greater Colombo Fashion Company

The Greater Colombo Fashion Company (TGCFC) is set to present HSBC Colombo Fashion Week, now in its 10 year running on 3, 4 and 5 April 2013, featuring high profile designers from eight countries such as Agatha Ruiz de La Prada, Bibi Russell, Radhika Hernandez and 28 others – both local and international – vying for notoriety and critical acclaim yet again for the impeccable designs and glittering talent we’ve come to expect from this event.

Easily the country’s premier lifestyle event, also dubbed the region’s ‘true international fashion week’ due to its links on various aspects with Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Russia, Miami Fashion Week, Dubai Fashion Festival and Malaysian Fashion Week, HSBC Colombo Fashion Week 2013 through The Greater Colombo Fashion Company has become the drive behind the local fashion industry, even becoming it’s very support system as it has founded Sri Lanka as a hub for buyers of resortwear and spring/summer clothing from any part of the world – a vital link that will also provide entry for international designers into South Asia which is fast becoming an important fashion market globally.

Over the past decade, the Greater Colombo Fashion Company, together with its many partners, has helped HSBC Colombo Fashion Week maintain its singular vision of developing and uplifting Colombo’s fashion design industry by grooming and supporting new fashion designers and guiding existing designers towards important retail opportunities in Sri Lanka and beyond.

The prestigious Gen-Next award offered in partnership with HSBC and its mentorship and guidance processes has taken local designers with amazing promise to great heights in the world of fashion design and hopes to do the same this year with its arduously selected group of designers by going beyond the perspective of promoting Sri Lankan designer wear locally, but also internationally and to great repute.

It is no surprising feat as TGCFC finds at its helm Ajai V. Singh, Dirk Flamer-Caldera and Prasad Bidapa – three men responsible for the growth and development of fashion design and its associated industries, bringing a standard to it that has made owning or wearing Sri Lankan designer wear a symbol of pride.

Although the Greater Colombo Fashion Company holds full developmental responsibility behind Colombo Fashion Week and the Arugam Bay Surf Classic (that is rapidly growing in stature), the company specialises in creating lifestyle related fashion properties, which creates marketing platforms to market the fashion industry both locally and internationally.

In addition to this, it offers consultancy in every avenue and aspect of fashion design especially in creating road maps for fashion designers or fashion labels starting from design development, their brand, exposure, marketing and brand building, exposing them to new markets. TGCFC also owns and manages the fashion brands Stringhopper, Sri Lanka’s first ethical fashion brand Conscience and Arugam Bay Surf Club.

Each success story that has emerged from HSBC Colombo Fashion Week is built on a firm base supplied by The Greater Colombo Fashion Company’s dedication to help designers reach the heights they aspire to through the assistance in creating their fashion retail programs from visual merchandising, stocking, displays, merchandising, promotions, designer sourcing and especially retail public relations. Additionally, TGCFC also offers training programs focusing on fashion and brands besides many years of experience in celebrity and talent management.