CFW 2024 puts bigger focus on highlighting Colombo as a fashion and leisure destination
Daily FT: The 21st edition of Colombo Fashion Week (CFW) was held from 6 to 9 March across three Colombo hotels, bringing global attention to the city and its culture from multiple locations.
This year, too, CFW presented by Mastercard focused on sustainability in fashion and supporting local and international designers and emerging designers. But this time, hosting the fashion week at three different locations; Cinnamon Grand, Taj Samudra and Galle Face Hotel, CFW serviced the country further by promoting Colombo as an attractive cultural destination.
CFW Founder and Managing Director Ajai Vir Singh said: “This is Colombo Fashion Week’s 21st year and we planned to use the platform to showcase Colombo not only as a vibrant destination for travellers but also as a centre that facilitates the creative industries. We want our platforms to showcase Sri Lanka in the region. Colombo Fashion Week will take place across multiple locations on Galle Road; it’s a new format.”
He further noted that combining fashion, food, culture, etc., CFW 2024 is aimed at creating an immersive experience centred on the vibrant nature of Colombo. Therefore, this year, CFW will go beyond the catwalk, embracing the city as its muse.
Fashion events showcasing works and collections of established and emerging Sri Lankan designers were held across iconic landmarks in Colombo.
Making it a global fashion event, this edition of CFW showcased international designers from Italy, England, Pakistan, and India including – Samant Chauhan, Payal Pratap, Alessandra Lorusso, Manoviraj Khosla, Afsana Ferdousi, Charlotte Allen, who will showcase along prominent Sri Lankan designers such as Asanka De Mel, Darshi Keerthisena, Sonali Dharmawardena, Amilani Perera, Aslam Hussein, Kamil Hewawitharana, Dinushi Pamunuwa, Ayesh Wickramaratne, Charini Suriyage.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka is currently being promoted as a must visit tourist destination for many reasons. Events such as CFW are also included in the list of attractions offered by Sri Lanka to its visitors. The mixture of fashion and leisure is a new concept being looked at by local fashion and tourism authorities. This new tourism concepts has also opened up new business/investment opportunities in the tourism industry. The move to promote Sri Lanka as a destination for creative industries, especially involving art, culture and fashion, could be explored by foreign businesses/investors as new areas for business/investment opportunities. The steady growth in tourist arrivals to the country and the growing business potential in the tourism industry would make new investments in building and expanding creative industries lucrative with a guaranteed return on investments.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20240312/Z_8 |