Colombo Fashion Week to push resort wear as a high growth industry

Sep 24, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Colombo Fashion Week is pushing resort wear as a high growth industry in the region while enabling the island's designers to tap into the growing demand for the industry. “Once a category that was focused on exclusively for the holiday season, resort wear has in the last decade grown to become a multi-billion dollar fashion industry,” Ajai V Singh, president of Colombo Fashion Week (CFW), said. “With resort wear we now see year-round sales to cater to the rise in demand for stylish, vacation-friendly clothing,” he said. The increase of global mobility and ease of travel to sunny destinations, as well as the changing ways in which holiday experiences are shared on social media, have given rise to resort wear as a wardrobe staple throughout the year. This shift in the market has prompted both designers and retailers worldwide to pay greater attention to resort wear and cater to consumers who also see resort wear as a versatile, ‘trans-seasonal’ trend and not just for holiday wear. Colombo Fashion Week has been able to promote our local designers and brands, Singh said. “Through CFW we are pushing the commercial success of Sri Lankan designers and we see a lot of designers have now started their own stores and expanded." “Now I think the momentum is there and we are making an impact in South Asia.” "We now need to make it a global impact," he added.' CFW Resort 2016 will kick-off its programme on Day 1 (1 October) at Jetwing Lighthouse, where ten emerging designers will present their collections. Twelve Sri Lankan designers and five international designers will showcase their latest resort wear collections over Day 2 and Day 3 (2 and 3 October) at the Galle Fort.