It will be a celebration of fashion and design talent for five days from July 5 – 10 when Lanka Institute of Fashion and Technology (LIFT) presents the International Graduate Fashion Spectacle 2018 in collaboration with the French Embassy in Sri Lanka.
Now in its second year, the event brings around 12-15 international fashion graduates to the island. On the concluding night, July 10, the participating graduates along with nine graduating students from LIFT will showcase their collections on the ramp at the Hilton Colombo in a much awaited show. The event is organized in partnership with the French Embassy as a parallel event of the French Spring Festival, celebrating all things French.
“IGFS is about building cross cultural links,” said Managing Director of LIFT Niroshani Leanage. International graduates are able to bring a lot to the table and in the exchange of different styles and techniques inspired by the designers’ local cultures, IGFS allows the graduates to explore new possibilities.
LIFT is affiliated to Mod’Art International, a French design institute that has campuses worldwide, but IGFS is not limited to their graduates. “We keep our slots open to all,” she added.
Fashion graduates from Germany, France, Hungary, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh have already confirmed their participation. They are invited through open participation calls made to Fashion Institutes around the world. “Asian countries showed a lot of interest in taking part in our event. The publicity has mostly been through word of mouth,” said Niroshani.
July 6 – the IGFS 2018 Welcome Night will feature a street art performance by the French street artist DACO at the LIFT premises. The participating graduates will also present their designs to the guests of the evening.
A factory visit to Biyagama has been lined up to introduce the visitors to the local apparel industry. “We are interested in linking these international graduates to the local apparel industry as it is one of the fields that brings Sri Lanka most of its revenue,” said Niroshani.
Day 3 of IGFS, on July 7 is dedicated to a talk show and forum on the future of the local and global fashion industry. It will also celebrate the art of Batik. To be held at Hilton Colombo, from 9 a.m., the Forum will feature leading figures in the industry – Deputy General Manager MAS Fabric, Uwais Hamza, Chief Growth Officer and member of MAS apparel board, Nathan Sivagananathan, and Chief Digital Officer MAS Pixel Jehan Mutaliph, who will be joined by veteran batik artist Eric Suriyasena, designer and owner of Eric Suriyasena Batiks. With cheaper copies of local batik designs entering the market, the future of the local batik industry becomes an important issue to discuss. The event is open to the public on the basis of limited registrations which can be made by contacting LIFT.
Sets and lights for the IGFS 2018 runway will be handled by Event Productions and the fashion show will be webcast on HiTV.
Tickets for the fashion show priced at Rs.2000 will be available at the LIFT office, IGFS event desk at Hilton Colombo and at the entrance. [By Hiranyada Dewasiri]