Lankan designer Charini Suriyage’s Eco-Luxury Brand launched at the London Fashion Week

Sri Lankan eco fashion designers Charini Suriyage winner of the Sri Lanka Design Festival Ethical Fashion Designer Award 2010, launched her sustainable collection at Estethica at the London Fashion Week.

Eco luxury lingerie brand Charini as part of the award prize, worked alongside ethical fashion and business experts from the UK and Sri Lanka to develop collections for the European marketplace.

Drawing from a pool of experience within the ethical fashion sector, the intensive three month mentoring programme gave Charini the opportunity to develop her brand identity and refine their collection signature. By boosting business potential and focusing on a sustainable supply chain Charini is set to have a competitive edge with buyers at London Fashion Week.

Charini’s love for design soon found a solid educational foundation, when she studied for her Bachelors in Fashion Design at the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. She is at present reading for her Masters in Design Management at the prestigious London College of Fashion.

Charini said that “Recognising, nurturing and launching designers is essential to sustain a healthy fashion industry and as the world increasingly operates as a global village, breaking geographical boundaries is our future. The SLDF Ethical Fashion Designer Award is a bridge, a journey of discovery and cultural intermix, an opportunity for young designers to think of design as a universal language, understood by all.

‘Charini’ celebrates exquisite artisanal Beeralu lace through working with community enterprises in Sri Lanka. Charini’s S/S 2012 range also focuses on architectural support in design and sets a standard of no elastics, no metals, no underwire and no harmful dying. Wellbeing is at the heart of her working and production ethos.

The mentors who worked alongside the winning designers included, award winning designer Orsola de Castro, Founder of Reclaimed-To-Wear Filippo Ricci, Claire Hamer from E8ight ethical fashion consultancy, ethical fashion consultant Elizabeth Laskar, Soozie Jenkinson and Paschal Little from M&S, Subramaniam Eassuwaren from Carbon Consulting Company and Ajay Amalean from MAS Holdings Sri Lanka.

Pix by Tissa Madawela and Gehan De Silva

(Source: sesatha.co.uk)