Mission in Warsaw promotes Sri Lanka’s creative economy in Poland

The Cracow Fashion Week 

In its first effort to promote Sri Lanka’s creative economy in the Republic of Poland, the Sri Lanka Embassy in Warsaw in partnership with the Krakow-based FMCG producer and distributor LIVEE successfully established a

mutually beneficial and enriching partnership between the Academy of Design of Sri Lanka (AOD) and Poland’s Krakow School of Art and Fashion Design (SAPU).  

The AOD and SAPU share an appreciation for creatively exploring the frontiers of fashion design within the sustainable fashion rubric, a concept promoted by the United Nations as well. The two institutions will contribute to their respective academic programs through guest lectures, workshops and research activities. 

Giving effect to the agreed action plan, last week SAPU hosted a guest lecture by Ruwanthi Gajadeera, AOD lecturer and talented young sustainable fashion and textile designer. 

Titled ‘Crafts in Contemporary Creation,’ the presentation focused on the creation of unique eco-friendly and socially sustainable contemporary fashion wear, incorporating facets of Sri Lanka’s heritage art and design.  

These activities will culminate with the AOD designers participating in the SAPU led Krakow Fashion Week 2022, Poland’s well known Spring/Summer fashion show. The event attracts leading personalities in the fashion design ecosystem from across Europe, providing the AOD’s young and upcoming designers with opportunities to engage and establish linkages with this creative industry.  

SAPU has an active presence in the fashion scene in Central and Eastern Europe, with the well-known European Fashion Union (EFU) among its many sponsors. The EFU is considered the platform that supports talented designers from all over the world to make their mark in the fashion industry. 

Therefore, as the AOD-SAPU collaboration progresses, the brands and businesses of AOD’s designers will have excellent opportunities to present their unique products, embellished with Sri Lanka’s heritage crafts and designs, to a wider audience and new markets in Europe. This in turn will contribute to Sri Lanka’s economy and uplift the economic and social prospects of the artisan communities with which the AOD has a symbiotic relationship.

The SAPU-AOD partnership was the outcome of a series of discussions held in November among LIVEE’s Chief Operating Officer Magdalena Miszczak, SAPU Directors Joanna and Jerzy Gaweł, AOD Chairperson Linda Speldewinde, AOD’s International Executive Yashodha Tennakoon and Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the Republic of Poland Dhammika Kumari Semasinghe.