The Emerging Designer showcase is part of the designer development programme which focuses on nurturing and growing the skills of the next generation of fashion designers. The strength of designers to follow will determine the future of Sri Lankan fashion. The Emerging Designer showcase focuses on just that by honing the skills of young designers and providing them with a platform. It promises to be a unique experience for the designers being featured as this will be the first time the Emerging Designer Showcase will be included in the programme at Swim Week Colombo. 

Aside from being presented with the opportunity to understand the intricacies of how one of the four main fashion events in Asia function, the designers are enriched with the know-how on fine-tuning their respective brands and collections to better appeal to an audience comprising of established designers, editors, buyers and influencers, both on and off the runway and particularly in terms of fashion retail. 

Over 90% of both established and up-and-coming designers in the country today commenced their journey in fashion through this platform. This is a testament to the platform’s authenticity and commitment to engender a self-sustainable infrastructure for emerging designers. 

Many of the emerging designers have undergone extensive training under the Project 7 programme led by Ajai Vir Singh that has significantly helped strengthen the ideation process of each participant leading to strong point-of-view development. This specialized programme entails a series of workshops that provides participants with practical steps that fuel creativity and ideation from a new perspective.

Six young designers will be showcasing their designs at the Luxury Resortwear Edition of Swim Week Colombo, which will be a first for Swim Week. The designers featured will be Anushika Perera, Yathra Jayawardane, Marlon Rae, Nayani Fernando, Himashi Wijeweera, Udaya Wickramasinghe. Each Emerging Designer who will be showcasing has been carefully mentored and guided through the creative process by the Swim Week team to help them hone their skills prior to producing each of their runway-ready collections for this year’s show. 

Each partner of the Fashion Week is a partner in the vision to create and develop a unique identity for Sri Lanka through the development of the fashion design industry. Title Partner Olu Tropical Water, Official Manufacturing Partner Linea Aqua, Official Host Hotel Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo. Nations Trust Bank American Express is the Fashion Card Partner, APEX Logistics is the Official Fashion Logistics Partner, BMW Prestige Automobile is the Official Automobile Partner, Official Lifestyle Beverage Partner Wine World Sri Lanka, Official after Party Venue is Botanic Bistro and Bar, Ramani Fernando Salons is the Official Hair and Make-Up Partner. MSL Sri Lanka is the Official PR Partner and Emerging Media is the Outdoor Digital Media Partner.

For further details, please visit www.swimweekcolombo.com or follow @swimweekcolombo on Facebook and Instagram.