Fashion
Nayan – fashion with love
A stylish clothing line with elegance
BY Zanita Careem
Sandra Love is a modern fashion designer, who has studied in Milan Italy. Founder of the brand ‘Nayan by Sandra Love , she had an opportunity to complete her design studies from Milan, one of the main fashion hub in the world.
“Growing up and studying in Italy was an incredible source of inspiration’says Sandra.
“For her fashion is in nature, fashion is a way of life, fashion is in the sky, fashion has to do with ideas and fashion is the way we live.”
An icon of elegance and style,Sandra, is presently introducing her brand “Nayan” to the local market for women in Sri Lanka by creating a name in the competitive world of fashion.
‘For me fashion is incredibly exciting, since the world is changing, I continue to find ways and means to embrace and respond to new changes while supporting local artisans, sustainable principles and traditions in Sri Lanka’s craftsmanship.’’
She loves to maintain to the core of her brand ‘Nayan by Sandra’ and maintaining the essence of timeless elegance. Creating exclusive collection in limited edition is her forte.
My brand “Nayan by Sandra” is the symbol of quality, trusted and crafted by myself” says the upcoming designer. My ultimate aim is to create an ensemble that simply makes my customers looks stylish, always aiming to bring a revolutionary change to the Sri Lankan fashion industry.
Her haute couture collection available in her boutique are all made in Sri Lanka. Her clothing line has uncommon styles,and perfectly suit the body and skin type of any individual.
Who are you as a designer?
I design for the modern and elegant woman. Elegance will never go out of the style and it cannot be put in a box or restricted to day or night.
The Nayan woman dresses from beautifully from morning to night, and everything has her signature styles from casual separates to formal and bridal wear.
Where do you find inspiration?
For every new collection colours are very important for me, as they drive the mood and vision of each collection to a beautiful piece of clothing.
Usually I am inspired by something I see in nature or the richness and beauty of an experience in and around me, or somewhere I’ve have travelled in some cases this translates directly into the fabric selection and colours or shapes of each design, which become the protagonist of the collection as I work with the texture and reflectiveness of the materials.
Do you have any favourite look in any of your collection?
There are several looks, I love, and my favourites are often the simplest designs that are just purely elegant, or separates that are versatile and can be dressed up and down.
What are some of the challenges?
Sandra
I design for the women of today. At the same time, I want to express my originality and define my unique design style. This is my biggest challenge. There is a constant need to come up with new themes and ideas to design the next collection. This is the most enjoyable part the job as a designer.
If you can describe yourself what would they be and why?
Determined, creative and loving – you have to be determined to stick to business like this which is so demanding and has many failures and successes.Creativity is an obvious need to work as a designer and challenging to stay creative all the time as your brands develops and gains popularity. Apart from my work my family is the most important thing in my life as they take the first priority, my husband is the pillar of my success. He has given all the encouragement for my business.
How would you compare your brand to others?
It is really vital in the fashion industry to have a clean idea of the niche you are working.
Nyan is an affordable designer brand focussed in making the Nayan customers feel confident and express their unique personally. I have a huge focus on quality and finding unique fabrics to stand out from others brands is my main aim.In the end it is a unique expression of style and is clearly reflect a different style than other brands.
On request we customise your dream ensembles to suit your style exclusively for you
What next for Sandra ?
She wants to expand internationally and make her brand to grow and evolve. The core of her business is to maintain the outstanding quality of this “Made in Sri Lanka” tradition.
Award-winning floral designer Samitha Wijayasekara, owner of The Wedding Flowers Gallery Pvt Ltd. and a proud WCIC member, recently presented a stunning collection of floral wearable art at WCIC Ramp Up 2024. Using a unique wire technique, the fresh flower designs were paired with garments by fashion designer Charith Wijesekera. The event, produced and directed by Lou Ching Wong, took place at the Hilton Colombo. Dress designer: Charith Wijesekera. Photos: Achira Jayasinghe
Samitha Wijayasekara, founder of The Wedding Flowers Gallery (Pvt) Ltd., is recognized as one of Sri Lanka’s top floral designers. Her journey into floristry began unexpectedly after starting her career in accountancy. Fascinated by the beauty of flowers from a young age, Samitha transitioned into floristry, founding her business in 2008. Over time, The Wedding Flowers Gallery became renowned for its creative and bespoke floral designs for weddings and events.
Samitha’s commitment to excellence has earned her numerous accolades, including:
= 2015: Women’s Entrepreneur of the Year (Bronze Award)
= 2016: National Excellence Award, 2nd Runner-Up (Medium Category)
= 2016: Entrepreneur Award, Western Province Merit Award
= 2023: Sri Lanka Wedding Awards (SLWA) – Appreciation Award
Her international training, including courses with renowned floral designers such as Wendy Andrade, Gregor Lersch, and Pirjo Koppi, has further solidified her reputation. In 2015, she became the first Sri Lankan member of the World Flower Council and introduced “Wearable Floral Art’ to Sri Lanka, blending fashion with floristry in a sustainable way.
A video of a fashion shoot in India has gone viral and unexpectedly turned a group of underprivileged school children into local celebrities.
The footage shows the children, most of them girls between the ages of 12 and 17, dressed in red and gold outfits fashioned from discarded clothes.
The teenagers designed and tailored the outfits and also doubled up as models to showcase their creations, with the grubby walls and terraces of the slum providing the backdrop for their ramp walk.
The video was filmed and edited by a 15-year-old boy.
The video first appeared earlier this month on the Instagram page of Innovation for Change, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in the city of Lucknow.
The charity works with about 400 children from the city’s slums, providing them free food, education and job skills. The children featured in the shoot are students of this NGO.
Mehak Kannojia, one of the models in the video, told the BBC that she and her fellow students closely followed the sartorial choices of Bollywood actresses on Instagram and often duplicated some of their outfits for themselves.
“This time, we decided to pool our resources and worked as a group,” the 16-year-old said.
For their project, they chose wisely – a campaign by Sabyasachi Mukherjee, one of India’s top fashion designers who has dressed Bollywood celebrities, Hollywood actresses and billionaires. In 2018, Kim Kardashian wore his sequinned red sari for a Vogue shoot.
Mukherjee is also known as the “king of weddings” in India. He has dressed thousands of brides, including Bollywood celebrities such as Anushka Sharma and Deepika Padukone. Priyanka Chopra married Nick Jonas in a stunning red Sabyasachi outfit.
IMehak said their project, called Yeh laal rang (the colour red), was inspired by the designer’s heritage bridal collection.
“We sifted through the clothes that had come to us in donation and picked out all the red items. Then we zeroed in on the outfits we wanted to make and began putting them together.”
It was intense work – the girls stitched about a dozen outfits in three-four days but, Mehak says, they had “great fun doing it”.
For the ramp walk, Mehak says they studied the models carefully in Sabyasachi videos and copied their moves.
“Just like his models, some of us wore sunglasses, one drank from a sipper with a straw, while another walked carrying a cloth bundle under her arm.”
Some of it, Mehak says, came together organically. “At one point in the shoot, I was supposed to laugh. At that moment, someone said something funny and I just burst out laughing.”
It was an ambitious project, but the result has won hearts in India. Put together on a shoestring budget with donated clothes, the video went viral after Mukherjee reposted it on his Instagram feed with a heart emoji.
The campaign won widespread praise, with many on social media comparing their work to that of professionals.
The viral video has brought enormous attention to the charity and its school has been visited by several TV channels, some of the children were invited to participate in shows on popular FM radio stations and Bollywood actress Tamannah Bhatia visited them to accept a scarf from the children.
The response, Mehak says, has been “totally unexpected”.
“It feels like a dream come true. All my friends are sharing the video and saying ‘you’ve become famous’. My parents were full of joy when they heard about all the attention we are getting.
“We are feeling wonderful. Now we have only one dream left – to meet Sabyasachi.”
The shoot, however, also received criticism, with some wondering if showing young girls dressed as brides could encourage child marriage in a country where millions of girls are still married off by their families before they turn 18 – the legal age.
The Innovation for Change addressed the concern in a post on Instagram, saying they had no intention to encourage child marriage.
“Our aim is not to promote child marriage in any way. Today, these girls are able to do something like this by fighting against such ideas and restrictions. Please appreciate them, otherwise the morale of these children will fall.”
[BBC]
The Christmas season officially began at Taj Samudra, Colombo with the annual Christmas cake mixing ceremony held on Friday, November 8th, at the stunning Samudra Ballroom!
Hosted by Samrat Datta – Area Director of Taj Maldives and Sri Lanka, the event was a festive delight, complete with an elegant cocktail spread and joyful vibes. Cheers to a season filled with warmth, tradition, and sweet memories!
Pix by Thushara Attapathu
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- Onitha, Samrat, Senuri and Shafiya
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- US envoy Julie Chung with Jennifer and General Manager Samrat
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- Ashish, Russel and spouse, Samrat and Sai
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- Trieshan
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- Naeema
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- Guests
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- Nelum
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- Priyanthi Fernando
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- Tanya
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