A new normal environment calls for a new normal experience, Colombo Fashion Week (CFW) curates a first-of-its-kind experiential retail interaction through knowledge in a responsible way.
This program is based on creative collaborations which brings about interesting retail interactions for guests and patrons; and it will be launched in association with Mastercard at the Shangri-La Colombo. The month-long event program is a knowledge and engagement-based experience which includes expert talks on relevant themes and subjects, book readings and workshops, value added retail experiences, movie screenings, junior chef program, art workshop for kids, and special events like wine tasting and F&B demos.
This Season, Every Garment presented at Colombo Fashion Week carries a Responsible Score.
Four impact initiatives announced on every garment presented to move towards circularity
The world today is burdened by the problem each garment brings forth to strain the environment and every fashion supply chain is crying out for a solution. In a bold move, Colombo Fashion Week (CFW) in association with the Responsible Fashion Movement (RFM), after months of research and behind-the-scenes work has come out with a specific action-oriented impact on each garment presented on the ramp, under a program titled Responsibility In Fashion.
‘Celebrate Colombo’ is a project to revive, restore and reinvigorate the tourism industry of Sri Lanka, the No. 1 ranked tourism destination of 2019. The aftermath of the Easter Sunday Attacks in April 2019 tested both the nation’s economy and unity. In creating a week-long festival that celebrated Colombo’s rich culture, this project focused on redirecting the domestic and international outlook of the city through 4 creative industries: art, music, fashion and film.
Celebrate Colombo is a destination promotion tourism-based event product that positively tunes the perception of the international media and travellers, showcasing Colombo as a vibrant and creative city, and this event product also enhances the experience of the travellers, having them enjoy Colombo more than they would have done before. The collaboration with the creative industries of Art, Food and Music makes the city more attractive to the modern traveller. The very creation of this festival was the first on-ground demonstration that there is peace and a return to normalcy after the Easter Sunday attacks. In this regard, this festival played a strategic role for Sri Lanka.
Celebrate Colombo was a collaborative effort between Colombo Fashion Week and Sri Lanka Tourism to showcase Colombo as a vibrant city with an active creative community. Celebrate Colombo took place from the 3rd to the 10th of August 2019.
Since its inception in 2003, the fashion development journey turns another leaf in taking the fashion design industry to the next level in 2019. Colombo Fashion Week popularly known as CFW, envisioned this journey at the beginning of the last 16 years
Colombo Fashion Week is a multi-pronged platform for various creative streams. One of the key focuses of Colombo Fashion Week and Swim Week Colombo is CFW Fashion Films, an initiative by CFW which creates a collaboration with a designer and a film director, who will capture a video which will function as an audio-visual representation of each designer’s collection and the inspiration behind it. Films are presented at the Fashion Films Festival where one director wins the Fashion Film Award.
Every season, Colombo Fashion Week partners with premier restaurants in the city to curate unique, limited edition menus and signature dishes, intended to provide attendees with an appetizing gastronomical experience. The Food Festival will took place from the 3rd to the 10th of August 2019, with partner restaurants and hotels packing a flavourful variety of events throughout the week.
Celebrating the diverse range of cuisines available in Colombo, different venues conducted various events for the Food Festival including but not limited to, themed cuisines, special menus & wine tastings which were designed to entice individuals back into Colombo’s plentiful offering of dining and nightlife.
Celebrate Colombo 2019 featured an Art Exhibit, which brought together an unprecedented 45 established and emerging Sri Lankan artists to collaborate on a never-before-seen project which embodies the spirit of Sri Lanka.
The artists hailed from varying backgrounds, highlighting the diversity of our country. Each artist unleashed their creativity to bring to life themes of peace and freedom. The art industry came together in such a manner for the first time to express a strong voice of unity and peace.
Retail has always been an important focus of OLU Swim Week Colombo, and thus one of its key aims has been opening up interesting commercial opportunities for Sri Lankan Fashion Designers. With the introduction of new technology, retail opportunities have grown and are now reaching and engaging more fashion-conscious consumers.
The Look & Book app, an interesting new format of fashion retail, creates a special shopping experience by making the outfits on-ramp available to be booked during the fashion shows in real-time and allows consumers to lock in the purchase on the same day. On the days of the fashion shows, the guests get a chance to book a design related to the designers showcased on that particular day simply by accessing a link on their smartphones.
From ramp to retail, the CFW Retail Edit is Colombo Fashion Week’s carefully curated pop-up retail experience. The designer collections showcased on the runways will be retailed shortly after the event.
CFW After Parties have evolved to engage guests with unique offerings and raise the bar over the years.
This season of Colombo Fashion Week concluded with an exclusive themed invitee-only after party at Café Francais featuring trendsetters, revellers, designers, models and some of the country’s most acclaimed names in the local music and entertainment industry.
