Swim Week Colombo 2017

By Shannine Daniel

Asia’s first and most foremost fashion platform for swimwear, Swim Week Colombo, took place on 24 to 25 June at the ECT Terminal of the Colombo Port, showcasing the best of Sri Lankan, regional and global swimwear designers. Organised in collaboration with Linea aqua, the runway shows at SWC 2017 featured the latest collections of 10 leading Sri Lankan and four international swimwear designers.

The show not only showcased the latest trends in swimwear for 2017 but also showcased and provided a complete supply chain within Sri Lanka endorsing the country as a high quality production destination and hub for swimwear. 

Day one of SWC on 24  June, saw the assemblages of the following Lankan designers; ‘U’ by Upeksha Hager, Meraki, Juxtapose, Rachel Raj, Charini, Charlene along with Hot-As-Hell from USA and Shivan and Narresh by Shivan Bhatiya and Narresh Kukreja from India.

‘U’ by Upeksha Hager featured an assortment of swimsuits to fit the varying figures of the modern day woman, in subtle colours of musty greens, woody browns and pale greys and pinks which served to highlight the sporty yet feminine styles presented in this collection. 

Meraki by Sharmila Ruberu presented the ‘Quintessentially Monochrome’ collection which carried the tag line ‘Intense Confidence Feminised’. A classic two-toned colour scheme met contemporary styles in swimwear with this collection and Ruberu brought out the black and white combination to a tee with several creative patterns. 

Indeevari Yapa Abeywardena and Charlene Thuring, collaborated to create the brand Juxtapose, which featured simple yet sophisticated styles highlighted by brilliant artwork created by the students of Navodaya, a school for children with special needs. The collection had a playful colour scheme of bold and bright shades with a lot of focus on floral prints. 

Rachel Raj by Sarita Rajandran showcased ‘The Riviera’ a glamorous French inspired collection that marked luxury brand’s formal entry into designer swimwear. The collection comprised of diverse styles designed to suit women of different size and shape and the simple but sophisticated trimmings featured in this collection accentuated the various designs.  

With the aim of bringing out timeless silhouettes, body contouring and a glamorous yet sporty look, the brand Charini by Charini Suriyage played with a mix of bright and subtle colours and creative and distinctive prints. The subtle sporty detailing on bold colours did lend indeed lend this collection an edgy look. 

Charlene by Charlene Thuring focused on young silhouettes to make the wearer look trendy and stylish, with her ‘Aves’ collection. It featured a few unusual and funky graphic prints of birds playing around with geometric shapes, embellished with a simple colour palette.

Considering the international labels that were displayed, Hot-As-Hell showcased bold, fun prints in a mix of light and bright colours and had a lot of variety in terms of the style. Shivan and Narresh, India’s first luxury swimwear brand and the first Indian label to showcase at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Swim 2012 in Miami, brought forth a fierce blend of colours and prints in modest cuts for the finale of SWC day one. The bold colours of the designs of this collection were inspired by the elaborate use of colour in the paintings of prominent twentieth century Mexican artist Diego Rivera. 

Along with the runway shows, SWC also set up the TrendSwim workshop for Swim Dialogues and Talks, on 25 June, which brought together leading swimwear experts to discuss the latest trends and developments of the swimwear industry today. The speakers included Colombo Fashion Week Founder/President Ajai Vir Singh, Linea Aqua CEO/Managing Director Sarinda Unamboowe, Abraham and Thakore Creative Director David Abraham, Heidi Klein Co-Founder/Creative Director Heidi Gosman, Heidi Klein CEO Eric Koby and the program was moderated by Corporate Druids Managing Director Mihirini De Zoysa.

Day two of the Runway show took place later on that same day and the collections of Arugam Bay by Ajai Vir Singh, Heidi Klein by Heidi Gosman and Penny Klein, Rum Punch by Rukshika Fernando, Maus by Annika Fernando, Aviva by Prasad Bidapa in association with Linea Aqua, Buddhi Batiks by Darshi Keerthisena-De Livera, We Are Handsome by Jeremy and Katinka Somers and Amanté were displayed.

As swimwear continues to be a segment of high growth in the global fashion industry, Swim Week Colombo aims to provide a unique opportunity to Sri Lankan designers to venture into this growing market and reach out to the global arena.  

Pix by Daminda Harsha Perera