Zainab Ammarah’s Young Upcoming Fashion Designer of the Year

Born and bred in pakistan, came  to SL for the first time  at the age of 18  and Started my career in SL in advertising WITH LOWE LINTAS AND PARTNERS Pvt Ltd and being in advertsing and marketing for 7 years and shifted to fashion in 2005…..

ACADEMY OF DESIGN “2005”

Graduated Successfully at the academy of design which is Colombo’s only fully integrated design School, offering higher education in the field of design , having a wider scope in  both local and international Fashion scene

FASHION DESIGNER OF THE YEAR 2006 CONTEST

Being the only fashion competition held in Srilanka, and having more than 150 semi finalists for the contest, creativity of high standards was displayed by the best 10 finalists in the country and participated in four categories which were…

• Office Wear.
• Casual Wear
• Evening Wear
• Sari Wear

Adjudged the Winner, of the “Fashion Designer of the year 2006 Award”

AND

“The Best Office Wear Award”

“The Best Evening Wear Award”

BRAND AMBASSADOR FOR SINGER 2007

Represented Singer Srilanka as the brand ambassador for their SEWING MACHINE CATEGORY which presently hold about 93% of market share and referred as the best brand in the country and henceforth working on….

Had her first debut fashion show with singer sewing machines

THE YOUNG UPCOMING FASHION DESIGNER 2008

The brainchild and organizer of the Young upcoming fashion Designer the first ever annual fashion competition of the international standard in Srilanka, showcasing Srilanka’s 10 best young designers.

THE COLOMBO FASHION STATEMENT 2008

A fashion show that is organized by the Rotary international…where the famous and well known international fashion designers show case  their latest works, and the ONLY Srilankan designer to participate  and showcase my collection amongst…..

• Designers from Paris, UK and Germany
• Bibi Russell (Bangladesh)
• Satya Paul  (India )
• Ritu Kumar (India) Etc

*SIRASA DANCING STAR SINHALA MOVIE 2008

Was the official costume designer for the sirasa dancing star movie

*(Though unfortunately dropped out, due to technical difficulties)

THE YOUNG & UPCOMING FASHION DESIGNER 2009

After an exceedingly successful 2008, now the show has become an annual event, now happening for the second conservative year ….

This talented individual presents, Young Up Coming Fashion Designer of the Year.

Which currently has 12 amazing fashion designers.

Sashini Munasinghe,

Age – 22 years.

To me fashion is not just a passion, it�s an obsession. Be it staying up through the night researching trends or stitching a garment or even walking the streets endlessly in search of the perfect fabric, it is what I live for and what brings me joy. Nothing can beat the feeling of amazement when viewing a great design at a fashion show or the satisfaction of completing a garment designed by myself. That�s why I know that pursuing a career as a designer is what I want to do with my life

I feel that taking part in the Young Upcoming Fashion Designer 2009 would be an integral stepping stone towards reaching that goal. I am excited to be showcasing my designs at this competition and hope to share with the audience my signature style of innovative tailoring, understated elegance and confident femininity.

My personal design aesthetic focuses on wearable clothes that follow current trends while also catering to each person�s body type and personality. I believe that fashion is a form of self expression and that the way we present ourselves often impacts ourselves and others in business, personal or public situations.

That is why I am passionate about helping people look their best through my designs. I am inspired by designers such as Narcisso Rodriguez, Carolina Herrera and Donatella Versace but always infuse my own personality and personal style into my designs. I feel privileged to be a part of this competition because it showcases the talent and potential of so many young designers, each of whom have their own unique and fascinating style of designing.

It is my hope that as young professionals we will work together to take the Sri Lankan Fashion industry into new diverse directions that would showcase to the world the distinctive and rich talent of our design industry.

Roshitha Madurapperuma

Age – 29 years

Roshitha Madurapperuma is an ambitious and energetic 29 year old currently employed as a  Product Development Merchandiser at MAS Intimates Pvt Ltd. Roshitha’s creative skills have been put to use in the best possible manner in her challenging role as a Development Merchandiser of the renowned Victoria’s Secret’s sub-Brand “PINK”

Roshitha’s background is in designing and marketing, having worked for Lanka Broadband Networks Pvt Ltd – one of the leading cable TV operators in Sri Lanka and Temptation Technologies Pvt Ltd – a leading IT Company. She is a Diploma holder in Web Designing from Singapore Informatics – Kandy and is also a CIM part qualified professional.

She hails from Kandy where her education was at Mahamaya Girls College. She was an all rounder, excelling in her chosen sport of swimming where she won several awards at National level. Presently she represents her company at the Mercantile swimming championships.

Fashion designing has always been Roshitha’s passion and being recruited as a Merchandiser by MAS in 2004 has enabled to get a step closer to her dream. Roshitha has always been fond of designing and creating her own styles and working at MAS has enabled her to sharpen her skills and acquire a wealth of knowledge of the fashion industry.

Participation at “The young up coming fashion designer 2009” is her second exposure to a National level fashion extravaganza. Her first experience was the recently concluded Sunday Observer Fashion Designer of the Year 2009. The inspiration for her very well received designs came from the colors from one of Sri Lanka’s enchanting native birds, the Peacock.

Her motivation and pillars of strength have been her family and friends who have been extremely supportive throughout her endeavors.

Shenali  Malsha  Perera

Age – 18

Starting off as a teenager, ‘fashion’ was my passion. It all began when I started to design my own clothes for special occasions. And when they were admired by others, I was encouraged to do many more designs and since then I have been designing clothes as and when it was required, and it was then that I was more interested in fashion designing knowing that I should not limit my designs to a sheet of paper or sketch, but to make the very best out of my capabilities and show who I am and what I am as a fashion designer. And also watching fashion shows and getting to know the new trends helped me to improve my fashion knowledge and to do many more new designs. Seeing someone in an outfit that I have designed, is the greatest joy I can get.

Now that I am 18 years old, I hope to transform my talents and passion into a career path. And I wish to direct my interests towards becoming a successful fashion designer.

Being selected as one of the ‘top 11 fashion designers’ is surly a great opportunity. It has shown me how to work up to my fullest potential because every designer is equally talented, I have learned that I have to make my own indelible mark in the fashion industry and now is the moment to shine!!

My future aim is to be a successful designer who can give the client, the very best to satisfy her/him, and to do my level best to the fashion industry.

Shashi Noyala Seneviratne

Age – 21

I am from in Malabe.I studied fashion designing in Lanka Institute of Fashion Technology (LIFT).I always liked fashion designing because it’s a very interesting field and I’m looking forward to be a great fashion designer in the future. I thought “The Young Up coming fashion  Designer 2009″competition will be a great opportunity me to develop my skills and a good start to my fashion designing career. I’m hoping to have my own label and hope to start a business. I thank Miss Zainab Ammarah the organizer of this competition who encourage and promote young fashion designers talents. I put my maximum effort to become the Young Up&Coming fashion designer 2009.

Avishka Galhena

Age – 17 years

Growing up, I never pictured myself as a designer. It was quite recently that i found myself fixing clothes together for my friends and jewelling up dance costumes. Along with my ability to sketch this became my passion and it was not the passion for fashion that all teenagers have, it was more of an urge to learn more about textiles, fabrics and various other cool stuff i come across at fabric stores.

My inspiration for this competition is a painting of an enchanted home. It grabbed my eye due to the very bright colors; shades of blue and it made me feel like i could play around a lot.
Being selected to the top 10 itself has felt like a huge achievement as I have learnt a lot from Ammarah from using pencil colors to fabrics. I feel like it’s a great accomplishment as it is an international standard contest and i have absolutely no learning experience, just the ability to sketch and imaginative ideas.

It has been very hectic and fun to work towards this competition. My parents have helped me so much, leaving all their work aside, spending every spare second for my work without a complaint. Sanadha, on the other hand has been very supportive and involved, helping me in every way he could. I owe them all a huge thank you.

I am positive that Ammarah will make this show a huge success. And I will to corporate with her with hope to be “The Young and Upcoming Fashion Designer 2009″.

Ruvini Lakeeshani Kandambi

Age – 24 years

As I have a great admiration for fashion, I choose to be a fashion designer. Being a fashion designer is a great opportunity for a person who has creative ideas, and he/ she can bring out his/ her creative and innovative ideas through fashion. I want to do something valuable for the world with my ability in designing, so I thought to be a fashion designer and I want to be a great and a famous designer in the future.

Currently I’m not working anywhere, but always I try to design stylish women’s wear items to polish my creativity.

I applied for “The Young up Coming Fashion Designer 2009” contest by Zainab Ammarah, where I can get a chance to make my dream come true.

I feel that there is no favouration for any contestant, so I hope that this will be a fair contest. So I hope I’ll get the correct place in this contest to my talent. And as a contestant of “The Young up Coming Fashion Designer 2009” contest, I can get publicity what a designer wants for her career in designing.

In the future I want to be a great fashion designer under my own label, but before that I should have to get experience by working for a company.

Special thanks for my parents, brother and my boy friend Nuwan Jayaweera who encouraged me a lot and who gave me a hand for everything in any time. (As I’m living out of Colombo, my parents can help me little, but Nuwan is the one who is helping me in everything.) And I should thank my friend Shashi too.

Dilakshika Lekhani Sellapperuma.

I was born in 29th April 1985. Good Shepherd Convent, Panadura was my first school and then for further education I moved to St. Bridget’s Convent Colombo-07. I have done the Advance Level Examination in Science stream in 2004. After the A/L’s by doing some short causes such as painting, cross stitch, crochet, saree designing, flower preserving, etc. I improved my creativity. Because of the encouragement given by my parents and family members I decided to continue my higher studies from this path.

In 2007 I have joined to ‘SELAK’ school of design, Borelasgamuwa for Diploma in Fashion Designing. I learned Fashion illustration, visual communication, research and development, pattern making, etc. through the journey in ‘SELAK’. In august 2008 I participated for a pageant held in ‘Future Minds’ educational fair at BMICH. For that pageant the theme i have chosen was “a street wear collection” by using local printed fabrics (cheettha) mixed with denim. Through that collection I tried to make that mixing a popular. In June 2009 I have done all the outfits of my own wedding and the appreciation I got, was a courage to travel on my way.

The moral i got, tends me to apply for this competition. The given theme was “works of art” and I have chosen the oil paint called “Girl with cherries” painted by Giovanni Ambrogio de Predis (Italian) after 1455. I inspired to that paint because, I need to express more from its less elements.

Still I’m continuing my studies through fashion designing and it will make me success if I win this competition.

Sheruka shanali Mahakumarage

Age – 24 years

I enter in to the filed of fashion designing at the age of 18, at Lanka institute of fashion technology & got a chance to travel India and enter to Bangalore university of my further studies in Bsc fashion & Apparel design. I was able to win many awards at university level as well as national level. including “Best student of the year” and India best up coming fashion designer of the year 2008 and also won 2nd runner up in sunday abserver & lanka women designer of the year 2009.

Nikita Deana –

Age – 22 years

I’ve being an artist since my childhood, my passion for modeling began when Aishwarya Rai was crowned as Miss world 1994.  This is what also truly inspired me to become a designer. This passion led me to study further in both fashion designing ,painting and also photography.I always design and paint based on my inner feelings. All my creations share my experiences and I believe it’s the best way to express myself. My hearing and speech problem will never be a barrier in my path to pursue a career as a designer and an artist. I believe that’s my strength and I’m no different to others. This opportunity is what I’ve dreamt always as a child, and if I’m talented and lucky enough to win the title as the upcoming young designer of the year I will be able to share my dream and aspirations with the world through my works of art.

Charith Wijesekera.

Age – 20 years.

I am an inventive fashion designer with a ambition to introduce innovative stylish creations. Fashion Designing is a very interesting profession without any restrictions to move your pencil in style.

I always try to come up with a creation which the observer will challenge him/her self to fit in to my design. I do not limit myself for new designs but it is important to remember your culture ,traditions and customs of your society. Its seems that its all about working with fabrics ,papers and colours but I believe that designed sketches are the media which designers interpret the future to be.

Also I believe that Designing is a talent in my blood which I have been gifted from my family as I have been used to needles and threads from my childhood itself.

I am trying to place a remarkable footprint in Sri Lankan Fashion Industry and I think “Upcoming Fashion Designer 2009” will be a paramount ladder for my future goals.

I thank Zainab for the great opportunity rendered to me and hoping to come out with my best at the show.

Looking forward to see you on the big day to come

Janaka Bandara Ullandupitiya

Age – 23 years

Janaka Bandara Ullandupitiya ,Kandy. Janaka received his primary and secondary education at St. Anthony’s College Kandy, and was a bright and keen student. He passed his Ordinary Level and Advanced Level at the General Certificate of education examination, and was selected to the University of Moratuwa, Faculty of Architecture, Bachelor of Design Degree, 2008/2009.

His passion for his work is evident from his academic and non academic achievements since his younger days. Janaka was the Deputy Head Prefect of St. Anthony’s College (2005/2006), Junior Prefect (2004/2005), President of the College Art foundation (2005/2006), President of Sinhala Cultural society  (2005/2006), President of Buddhist Brotherhood (2005/2006), Secretary of the College Photography Society (2005/2006), and the Treasure of the Astronomical society (2005/2006).

Janaka is a passionate and extremely talented artist. The long list of his achievements in the field of art bears witness to this. He won the “Best picture of the year award”, 2006 (school level), 1st PRIZE Sama Warna Sama Sithum Dialog G.S.M. (Provincial 2003), 1st Prize Acron Water Colour Art competition (All Island 2000), ‘Situwili Sri Lanka’ (Merit -1998), 3rd Prize ‘Vesak Sithuwam’ (2006),  ‘Vesak Sithuwam’  (Merit-2007),  and Central Environment Authority Art Compititon 3rd Place 2001.

He enjoys drawing sketches, playing computer games, basketball, watching T.V. and films during his leisure time. It helps him relax and enhance his creative ideas as he climbs the ladder of success towards his dream and vision, to adopt and forecast design skills in the changing world.

Gayan suranga

Age – 24 years

Born in Kandy, he studied  from kegalle  Maha  Vidyalaya, Kegalle.he studied art, geography and Sinhala.in his school period he lead for a western music band, he was the pianist, guitarist and a singer of that band, he played cricket for his school team in 2001.and also he followed sculpture making course in antiques republica centre at pasyala.he is also doing paintings. After end of his school came  to moratuwa university for higher studies in 2006.

And began his design career as a fashion designer under the bachelor of design degree course at the university of moratuwa. gayan learned about making clothes and soon he designed apparel himself, Then, he acquired additional skills working in fabric procurement positions. He got his first chance to show his skills when designing a collection for trendy wear appeals in kadawatha.gayan produced a range of  dresses, often using innovative materials .he has a valuable ability of fashion illustrating with his own style. When designing new products, gayan  gave only a vague sketch of his ideas. Then he transforms them into wearable garments.

Gayan is working as a interior designer under charted architect nishan nawaratne in atulkotte.and he participated few television advertisements, he also work with a photographer and artist called sanjaya withana as a fashion designer. In 2008,gayan  won the asia star packaging award. that was his first international award.