Sonali Dharmawadene Staying relevant during a decade with Colombo Fashion Week

When she showcases her latest collection at the 18th edition of HSBC Colombo Fashion Week during 25-27th March 2021, batik artisan and designer Sonali Dharmawardene will join a select group of Sri Lankan designers who have celebrated their 10th anniversary of showing at Colombo Fashion Week.

My first recollection  of Sonali dates back to  over ten years ago when during a holiday in Sri Lanka I was roped in to help my best friend shop for a batik sari.  While living overseas  in the absence of social media, we would keep a finger on Sri Lanka’s fashion pulse through the Hi!! magazine and of course we had all heard of Darshi who had created a renaissance in the batik industry by creating colourful batiks with flowers as her leit motif, after she first showed at CFW in 2007. Since then Darshi has grown in stature as a designer. 

However ,during this visit we were told of a new emerging batik designer called Sonali Dharmawardene who had a store down Stratford Avenue which by all accounts sounded like a sari lover's dream. Located on the upper floor of a characterful building the store which was called Acushala at the time was a veritable trove of saris in every hue and colour. 

I vividly remember Sonali was there herself and she aided my friend in selecting her sari. That first impression counted, so much so that many years later it was Sonali that my friend turned to and entrusted with to create her bridal sari and bridesmaids’  saris too. 

A few years later when I relocated to Sri Lanka I was to read much more of Sonali especially after showing at Colombo Fashion Week when the press would wax lyrical about her batik creations. 

Sonali is inherently an artist. She learnt her craft at the Cora Abraham School of Art and subsequently joined the field of advertising, which she was still associated with when she took the step to show for the first time at Colombo Fashion Week in 2011.  By then Colombo Fashion Week was firmly established as one of the important fashion weeks in South Asia, specifically after having reputed designers of the ilk of  Rohit Bal, Tarun Tahiliani, Agatha Ruiz De La Prada, Rizwan Beyg who showed in the 2010 edition of CFW. Like many others who started at CFW, with each passing year Sonali’s reputation as a batik designer continued to grow and she soon became a household name.

“I try hard to conform to time frames. But I need to be moved. And yet I push those limitations and try to bring it together in 4-6 weeks”.

In an interview Sonali gave to DNA India in 2012  which is available online she credits her husband Pushpadeva for encouraging her to take up batik. Pushpadeva himself is the son of one of Sri Lanka’s foremost exponents of batik, Vipula Dharmawardene who was considered not only a pioneer in batik but also an astute entrepreneur. 
In 2011 when Sonali first took to the ramp at CFW she had also shown overseas. One such event being a fashion show in London in aid of a charity organized by the formidable Dr Tara Coomaraswamy.  The audience fell in love with her artistic brushstrokes in a myriad of colours. The abstract form of her art is all encompassing on a sari which creates a visual allure and  commands attention.

Speaking about her first showing at CFW, Sonali is quick to point out that “ CFW opened the eyes of Colombo’s Fashion Enthusiasts who needed her showing on the ramp for them to give their seal of acceptance.” She added “it’s right to say showing at CFW did impact my  brand presence.”

Putting together a collection and presenting it on the runway is a herculean task and no one knows it better than Sonali. “I am an artist” she says before adding “  I try hard to conform to time frames. But I need to be moved. And yet I push those limitations and try to bring it together in 4-6 weeks”.

 For ten years she has shown at CFW at least once a season. Her collections over the years have been outstanding. Having been in the audience for the last 8 years I’d volunteer that some of her collections have been jaw droppers,  that is even before the showstopper came on stage. Who could ever forget her resort collection against the inky blue sea at The Light House hotel in Galle, when model after model sashayed down the runway in some of the most exquisite batik pieces with birds and feathers perched on the models' heads creating quite a visual impact. Sonali’s  innovative nature also saw her become the first to introduce foil work into her batik designs which caused great interest amongst the fashion sorority. 

This season the theme of Circularity in Fashion is very much in motion. For Sonali, her pieces she created ten years are as much relevant today as it was then.  She equates that being relevant then as much as now as a journey of circularity. “A piece done with passion and love becomes a statement one can dress up or down. Use and re use” she adds.

For many Sri Lankan designers CFW has been a platform that has given them an opportunity to showcase their talents and be recognized as forces in the local fashion industry. Showing at CFW has also enabled many of our own homegrown labels to position themselves alongside many designers from the region such as Bibi Russel, Abraham And Thakore, Agatha De La Ruiz and Tarun Tahilani. 

Her work has earned her many high profile customers such as Yehali Sangakkara, Angeline Ondaatjie et al. It is safe to say that many of Sri Lanka’s fashion elite have Sonali’s number on speed dial!  Her fans eagerly await her shows especially at CFW when she unveils her best collections. Year on year Sonali’s brand has grown from strength to strength. Nine years ago when she gave that interview to DNA Sonali mused , "I believe we are now in the embryonic stage and are on the eve of giving birth to great innovations.” Fast forward to a decade later and Sonali continues to give birth to great innovations that have Colombo’s fashion pack beating a path to her door.