Changing trends

By Jamila Najmuddin 

From 'straight pants' to 'boot cuts', from flat shoes to high heels, from gold jewellery to silver, today, the Sri Lankan fashion industry is a cauldron of the latest fashions freely available in the market.

Compared to 10 years ago, the fashion industry in Sri Lanka has improved 'tremendously' paving the way for the public to become more fashion conscious with a vast variety of products to choose from.

With fashion stores improving and expanding all over the island, Sri Lankan men and women are no longer 'uninterested and boring'  when it comes to fashion, instead they now have changed attitudes and are also responsible for starting many popular fashion trends.

This week taking a look at how much the industry has changed over the past couple of years, leading garment stores shared with us their views on how important fashion has become in Sri Lanka as well as the latest garments and accessories that have taken the Sri Lankan market by storm.

Speaking to The Sunday Leader, General Manager, Arena, Pravin Pereira said that the fashion industry today cannot be compared to the industry 10 years ago.

"Today, fashion in Sri Lanka has become more accessible to the public. This is mainly due to the rapid developments in communication. Today the latest fashion is available over the internet, fashion magazines, fashion shows and advertisements. Another important trend which has lately set in is 'Fashion TV' over cable network. Today many people have access to cable TV in their homes and fashion TV is a channel that is very popular. Sri Lanka also conducts fashion shows where international models participate and through these people have become more fashion conscious," Pereira said.

"In our younger days, the only fashion magazine that was available in the market was Femina and GQ Magazine, which are very popular magazines even today. But today with the world become smaller in terms of accessibility, people have a wider range of products to chose from," Pereira said.

Stores vastly improved

Pereira further added that the fashion stores in Sri Lanka have also greatly improved with various fashions from all over the world freely available in the stores.

"Today we have garments and accessories available in our market not only from the West but designs from all over the world such as India and Pakistan as well. Currently the 'kurta' design has become a great trend amongst our people," Pereira explained.

Pereira also said that men too had become extremely fashion conscious over the past couple of years.

"The number of spas and gyms that have opened all over the city clearly shows how conscious people have become. Men are in par with the ladies when it comes to fashion and it is extremely surprising as to how much they have changed as well. Unlike earlier, we have male models as well and the choice in gent's garments has vastly improved as well," Pereira said.

He further explained that since Sri Lanka had an open economy, goods from all over the world flooded the market giving the public a vast variety to choose from.

However speaking to The Sunday Leader, Production Assistant, French Corner E. Kotandeniya, said that although the fashion industry has improved over the years, the industry still needed further improvement.

"Garments and accessories from the European and Italian market usually are exported to the Hong Kong market first and it is from there that these products are exported to Sri Lanka. We usually get our fashions from Hong Kong," Kotandeniya said.

"Although Sri Lankans today have become extremely fashion conscious, they take quite some time to adjust with the latest fashions available in the market. The latest trend in the fashion world currently is garments of lighter and pastel shades. Although dark shades are in as well, Sri Lankans do not go for these colours due to the skin colour. These garments are mostly bought by the foreigners as their skin is much lighter than ours," Kotandeniya said.

Kotandeniya further said that with regard to accessories, Sri Lankans today mostly go for shoes and bags.

"Today the demand for shoes and bags has increased quite a lot than what it was 10 years ago as women now go for the 'matching attitude'. Like other countries, our women also have adopted an attitude of matching the shoes to their outfit. Bags are also matched to the same colour so that the outfit looks complete," Kotandeniya said.

Demand for accessories

"There is a great demand for jewellery as well. Although jewellery has always been in great demand amongst women it is now in great demand amongst men as well. Different pieces of jewellery such as bangles, earrings, necklaces, pendants, nose rings, belly rings and much more are available in the market from silver to gold to platinum and this mainly shows how fashion conscious our people have become," Kotandeniya said.

"The garment industry today mainly targets the teenagers and young adults up to the age of 35 or 40. However there is a target for the men's garments as well as this section of the industry has improved as well. However this does not mean that the elderly section of the community is left out. A vast selection of garments and accessories are available for them in the market as well," Kotandeniya added.

Speaking to The Sunday Leader, Managing Director, Cotton Collection and Leather Collection, Nilufa Eusufally Anverally said that although the fashion industry did need further improvement, it had improved a lot compared to 10 years ago.

"Earlier, people had a very limited choice when it came to selecting garments and accessories. However today the industry has improved a lot and people are offered a very vast selection of products. People have become extremely fashion conscious and as a result, a vast variety of garments and accessories are available in the market," Anverally said.

"When it comes to selecting accessories, there is a great demand for shoes as a lot of women today have a craving to own different shoes. Earlier, people were content with just two to three pairs but today shoes are bought according to the colour of the outfit and their handbag. Different shades of bright yellow, bright pink, black and many more attractive colours of shoes and bags are available in the market and it is surprising as to how much the taste of our people has changed when it comes to selecting garments and accessories," Anverally said.

"Cotton Collection and Leather Collection usually targets the working person. Basically we target the age group of 18 and above. The men's garments and accessories have also improved tremendously over the years and like women, men too have become extremely 'fashion conscious'. A variety of shirts, short kurtas, linen, trousers and shorts are available and this clearly shows that men too are extremely 'quality and fashion conscious.' Like women, men too are extremely fussy when it comes to selecting their products and they can very well differentiate a cheaper shoe from a quality shoe. Unlike before where men were quite content wearing the same design shirts and trousers, their taste too has vastly improved," Anverally added.

Anverally further explained that today there were so many fashion magazines freely available in the market which was the main reason that people were more fashion conscious.

"Fashion on the internet too has contributed to this and it makes it easier for the public to decide on what types of garments and accessories would best satisfy their taste," Anverally said.