Nescafé Sri Lanka launched their “Nescafé Fashion Café” at Colombo Fashion Week 2025, a first-of-its-kind experience blending coffee with fashion, serving as the official coffee partner for the event. It was designed to be a unique hub for designers, artists, influencers, and fashion enthusiasts to connect As a brand that awakens senses and fuel ambition, the Nescafe Fashion Cafe will be a creative space where the energy of thr runway meets the warmth of a perfectly brewed cafe.  This is a celebration of creativity,individuality, that resonate values deeply with Nescafe said Bernie Stefan Managing Director Nestle Lanka

This doyen of batiks in Sri Lanka, Eriq Suriyasena celebrated 70 years in the batik industry in Sri Lanka amidst a large gathering at his newly opened Batik Gallery.

Eriq a visionary artist and enterpreneur, who pioneered batik art in Sri Lanka, recently opened a Batik Art Gallery at Lauries Road Bambalapitiya. This store showcased a full range of breathtaking batik sarees, kurtas dresses, scarves and many beautiful paintings.

“We will never allow this industry to die. With my family who are also also passionate artists we will ensure to ensure our legacy to alive”says Eriq The show was chroegraped by Rozanne Diaz (ZC)

Carolyn Jurie with Priyanthi and Dannielle

Eriq Suriyasena and wife

Pix by Thushara Attapathu

This year CFW will showcase a selection of Emerging Designers alongside established Sri Lankan designers. Adding international flavour will be well known designers from India Suket Dhir, Urvashi Kaur and Zaheer Abbas from Pakistan.

Colombo Fashion Week (CFW), presented by Mastercard, enters its 22nd year in 2025 with its Summer edition, marking another milestone in its journey as one of the four fashion weeks in Asia that have surpassed 2o years.Emerging Designer initiative of CFW this time remains one of its main pillars, providing an entry point for the next generation to pursue design-based entrepreneurship. This in line with the introduction of the Craft Fashion Fund this year is a testament to this commitment. The Craft Fashion Fund will select two winners, one who incorporates batik and another who utilizes crafts other than batik. This initiative passed 20 years.

Over the years, CFW has proven to be the backbone of Sri Lanka’s fashion design industry—its only voice—while creating a fashion ecosystem that provides support to new emerging designers entering the industry. Informally known as South Asian Fashion Week, it serves as a regional hub due to its geopolitical advantage. It is also one of the most significant fashion weeks in South Asia, having played a crucial role in revitalizing the country’s fashion design industry.

This year, Colombo Fashion Week has also expanded its international footprint since joining as a founding member of the newly created BRICS International Fashion Federation. This aligns with CFW’s ongoing mission to bridge diverse fashion markets and foster creative dialogue across continents. As part of this federation, CFW has signed a designer exchange program with BRICS, where a designer from a BRICS country will showcase their work at CFW, and a Sri Lankan designer will present their collection there. CFW continues to play a pivotal role in presenting Sri Lanka through the lenses of arts, culture, and sustainability, further contributing to destination marketing on a global scale.

The Head Table From L to R: Harsha Maduranga, GM – Vision Care, Yatila Wijemanne, Chairman – Juniper, Dr. Vibash Wijeratne, Dirand CEO – Ninewells, Shamara Silva, Mrkt & Media Dir – Unilever, Ruwan Perera, CEO – NDB Wealth, Kamal Munasinghe, Area VP and GM – Cinnamon Grand, Ajai Vir Singh, Founder – CFW, Sandun Hapugoda, Country Mgr – Mastercard, Samrat Datta, GM – Taj Samudra, Bernhard Stefan, MD – Nestlé Lanka, Ramani Fernando, Founder – RF Salons, Arjuna Kumarasinghe, MD -Cargills Food & Beverages

Ajai Vir Singh, Founder, Colombo Fashion Week stated: “Colombo Fashion Week has consistently demonstrated its commitment to developing Sri Lanka’s fashion industry through strategic international partnerships and innovative platforms. Our growing international recognition and expanding designer network reflects vital role this platform plays in positioning Sri Lanka through its creative industries.”

Mastercard, as the presenting partner, continues to champion CFW’s vision of sustainable and inclusive fashion innovation, focusing on digitizing sustainability initiatives and supporting small and medium fashion enterprises.

Sandun Hapugoda, Country Manager, Sri Lanka & Maldives, highlights: “Mastercard is thrilled to partner with Colombo Fashion Week once again, celebrating the incredible talent and creativity within the fashion industry. This partnership aligns perfectly with our commitment to support local artistry. Together, we aim to inspire new possibilities, connect communities, support sustainable fashion initiatives, and elevate the local fashion industry to a global audience, delivering a truly priceless experience. We also anticipate CFW to be a great support to boost the Sri Lanka tourism industry as well.”

Fazeena Rajabdeen

The Craft Fashion Fund encourages young designers to engage with and incorporate Sri Lankan crafts into their collections. This approach has been highly successful for designers in other South Asian countries, where traditional crafts have helped establish a unique identity for them. Sri Lankan fashion has its best opportunity to develop a distinct identity when designers integrate local crafts into their work. The developing of this identity has been professed by CFW among the design fraternity, so they are able to create market demand beyond Sri Lanka.

The Emerging Designer initiative of CFW remains one of its main pillars, providing an entry point for the next generation to pursue design-based entrepreneurship. This in line with the introduction of the Craft Fashion Fund this year is a testament to this commitment. The Craft Fashion Fund will select two winners, one who incorporates batik and another who utilizes crafts other than batik. This initiative will support two exceptional designers, ensuring the preservation and evolution of Sri Lanka’s rich artistic heritage. This season, fifteen emerging designers will present their collections, further demonstrating CFW’s dedication to fostering the next generation of fashion talent.

Fazeena Majeed Rajabdeen, Director & CEO, Colombo Fashion Week further added: “Colombo Fashion Week, with its focus on nurturing new talent and emerging designers, has played a pivotal role in reviving and propelling Sri Lanka’s fashion industry. We are proud to present 15 emerging designers this year and to have Sharmila Ruberu mentoring these designers on collection planning. This, along with the Craft Fashion Fund, reiterates our commitment to further the thriving ecosystem we have built, embracing sustainability and empowering young talent.”

Colombo Fashion Week Summer 2025 is set to transform Colombo into an immersive fashion destination by showcasing designers across three of the city’s most prestigious locations. The key partners of Destination Colombo includes Shangri-La, Taj Samudra, and Cinnamon Grand. The shows will feature an impressive roster of international and local talent, including designers from India, Italy and Russia. Renowned creators such as Rimzim Dadu,

Cettina Bucca, Suneet Varma and JJ Valaya, will present alongside celebrated Sri Lankan designers including Fouzul Hameed, Sonali Dharmawardena, Asanka De Mel, Aslam Hussein, Kamil Hewawitharana, Dimuthu Sahabandu, Indi Yapa Abeywardena and Charini Suriyage.

Colombo Fashion Week 2025 is proudly supported by Mastercard, presenting partner along with Shangri-La, Cinnamon Grand, Taj Samudra, NDB Wealth, Yatra, Ninewells Aesthetic Centre, Tresemme, Vaseline, Juniper, Chupa Chups, Nestle-Nescafe, Vision Care, Knuckles, Hameedia, Ramani Fernando, Wijeya Newspapers, Hard Talk, Acorn and Emerging Media.