Three of Sri Lanka's brightest fashion designers of the future have been recognised with special awards for Creativity, Innovation and Inspiration respectively by Textured Jersey PLC, the country's largest manufacturer of knitted fabric.
The three designers were chosen from 20 students who presented designs when the 34 that made up the seventh batch of the University of Moratuwa's Bachelor of Design Degree in Fashion Design & Product Development graduated recently.
One of the university's principal partners from the industry, Textured Jersey presented the 'Creative Knitwear Designer award,' the 'Innovative Textile Fabric Designer award' and the 'Serendib Inspirational award' at the graduation ceremony at the Hilton Colombo.
The recipients of these special awards presented by the company as part of its commitment to promoting sustainability, were Adhini De Silva of Galle, Chathura Sudharshan of Bandaragama and Achala Leekoh of Katubedda.
"Textured Jersey works very closely with the University of Moratuwa to support the education of the undergraduates who will take Sri Lanka's fashion industry forward in the years ahead," said Samadhi Weerakoon, the company's Business Development Manager. "We provide students with the required training on production and textile engineering and supply them with the materials to come up with their own designs. We believe that the three areas chosen for our special awards are vital to the future of Sri Lanka's fashion industry."
The graduation ceremony included a fashion show at which the final year students of the Fashion Design and the Product Development Degree presented their catwalk collections for 2013. Each collection, designed to a theme and comprising of six complete new outfits, was based on in-depth research of a particular market and a customer.
Ms Adhini De Silva, who won the Textured Jersey Creative Knitwear Designer award, produced a collection of women's occasional knitwear under the concept of 'Ebony Dreaming' for the spring-summer of 2014 for the brand name of 'Ekaterina Kukhareva.'
The winner of the Textured Jersey Innovative Textile Fabric Designer award Chathura Sudharshan used innovative textile fabrics to produce a collection of mixed performance wear under the concept 'Fantasy of Mystic' for the brand 'ACIS Innovations.'
The Textured Jersey Serendib Inspirational award was won by Achala Leekoh for her collection of women's evening semi casual wear under the concept of 'Chronicle Robust' for the 'AKOH' brand.
Textured Jersey employs one of Sri Lanka's most sophisticated production facilities for the manufacture of knitted fabrics for the intimate apparel and sportswear industries. A specialist in the manufacture of high quality, weft-knitted and dyed stretch fabrics, Textured Jersey is a supplier for top-notch international brands of the calibre of Victoria's Secret, Marks & Spencer and Intimissimi. The two major shareholders of the company are Brandix, Sri Lanka's single largest apparel exporter and Pacific Textiles, a Hong Kong based company with one of the largest manufacturing facilities in China.
