Sri Lankan Fashion Design Industry

Sri Lankan Fashion Design

Industry Macro Environment and its latest changes

This is a PESTEL Analysis on Sri Lankan Fashion Design Industry and its latest

Macro Environmental changes, which is done as the Group Assignment for the

‘Marketing Management’ Module.

Sri Lankan Fashion Design Industry

Sri Lankan Fashion Design

Industry

Macro Environment and its latest changes

Fashion Design is gaining popularity as an industry in

Sri Lanka. However, still the Sri Lankan society is not

quite aware of this industry and its actual use.

Therefore, the macro Environmental factors are not

much in favour of the development of Fashion Design.

We have tried to analyse this situation.

Assignment Details

Group Members

K.D.M. De Silva HD UGC 102017

M.D.H.D. Gunathilake HD UGC 102030

R.N. Karawdeniya HD UGC 102045

N.R. Navaratne HD UGC 102057

G.S.M. Perera HD UGC 102065

W.P.T. Withana HD UGC 102094

Degree Programme

BSc. In Business Management (Special) – UGC

Module

Marketing Management

Date of Submission

04.11.2011

Fashion Design is one

of the emerging and

rapidly developing

industries in present

day Sri Lanka.

Modeling is another

field which is

interconnected with

this industry with a

strong bond.

However, since

fashion has become a

part of day-to-day

lives of people, this

industry is hugely

affected by certain

Macro environmental

factors. Especially,

the social and cultural

aspects of Macro

environment play a

major role in deciding

the future of fashion

designing. This

project is a PESTEL

analysis to determine

the latest significant

changes in such

factors.

Fashion Design and

Macro Environment


Table of Contents

Fashion Design Industry – An overview .................................................................... 3

Fashion and Fashion Design ...................................................................................... 3

History and Development .......................................................................................... 3

Sri Lankan Fashion Design Industry ......................................................................... 5

Contemporary Sri Lankan society and fashion .......................................................... 5

Sri Lankan Fashion Design Industry and local Fashion Designers ........................... 6

PESTEL Analysis ......................................................................................................... 7

Fashion Design Industry and Socio-cultural Environment ..................................... 8

Effect of Socio-cultural environment on an industry ................................................. 8

Sri Lankan Fashion Design Industry and Socio-cultural Factors .............................. 8

Gender, Fashion and Fashion Design Industry ...................................................... 9

The effect of age on Fashion Design Industry ..................................................... 10

Income, Occupation and Fashion Design Industry .............................................. 11

Challenge from the Ethnic and Religious views .................................................. 12

An overview on Socio-cultural impact on Fashion Design Industry ....................... 13

Recent Changes in the Socio-cultural Environment ................................................ 14

Changes in attitude ............................................................................................... 14

Fashion shows ...................................................................................................... 15

Effect of Ethical Fashion ..................................................................................... 15

Fashion Education and Society ............................................................................ 16

Political and Legal Environments related to Fashion Design ................................ 17

Legal side in Fashion Design Industry..................................................................... 17

Intellectual Property Rights ................................................................................. 17

The need of a professional body .......................................................................... 18

Political side in Fashion Design Industry ................................................................ 19

Natural Environment, Go-Green and Fashion Design ........................................... 20

The effect of Seasons and Climate on Fashion and Sri Lankan Fashion Designers 20

Go-Green, Eco Fashion Concept and Sri Lankan Fashion Design Industry ............ 21

Sri Lanka‟s place in Eco Fashion............................................................................. 22

Effect of Economic Factors on Fashion Design Industry ....................................... 23

Place of Fashion Design Industry in Sri Lankan economy ...................................... 23

Technological Environment and Fashion Design Industry .................................... 25

Modern Technology and its effect ........................................................................... 25

Craft Based Fashion Design Techniques ................................................................. 25

Developing the Sri Lankan Fashion Design Industry ............................................. 26

Acknowledgements .................................................................................................... 30

3

Fashion Design Industry – An overview

Fashion and Fashion Design

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Fashion is “a popular or the latest style

of clothing, hair, decoration or behaviour” or “the production and marketing of new

styles of clothing and cosmetics”. As the definition clearly shows, Fashion is a part of

day-to-day lives of people all over the world from the very primitive tribes to the

people of most developed countries. Actually, the latter can be taken as the definition

of Fashion Design. However, since the Beautycare has been developed as a

mainstream industry which covers the cosmetics etc., the Fashion Design Industry we

consider is the clothing and apperal design industry.

Fashion Design is developing or making fashion and fashionable designs for people.

Since humans need to be differentiated from each other and also to look good in

general, Fashion Design has become a profession and an industry with a huge

potential. This includes not just designing somekind of a suit to be worn. It should be

done with a great sense and awareness on the person who is going to wear it, the

occasion and the cultural background in which the dress is worn and so on. Any

proper Fashion Designer is well educated and aware of the way to use „Fashion‟.

History and Development

Although Fashion has been a part of human lifestyles literary

from the beginning of the human race, the development of

the contemporary Fashion Design Industry has begun within

the last two centuries. Anyhow, Charles Frederick Worth

(1826–1895) who started the world's first fashion house in

Paris is considered as the first ever professional Fashion

Designer. Before him, it has been the practice to place orders

for the dressers which people prefer but Worth soon became

so successful in his work that customers began seeking advice from him, rather than

A Design by Charles

Fredrick Worth


4

telling him what they wanted. This is identified as the first instance where people

came across the „Fashion Design‟ concept.

Ever since, France and especially Paris have been the

centers of fashion in the world with many of the leading

Fashion Designers and trend setting designs coming

from them. The evolution of Fashion Design Industry

has revolutionaised the clothing trends and also the

lifestyles and national identities of people around the

world.

Later on, other European countries like Italy and also

America adopted this new industry and entered the

mainstream Fashion Design, contributing in many ways.

This has lead to the establishment of world renowned

Designerwear Brands such as Versace, Gucci and Giorgio Armani with other global

trendsetters such as Adidas, Reebok, Esprit and Victoria’s Secret. These are currently

leading the global market for Fashion Designs with numerous other global and local

companies. Meanwhile, individual Fashion Designers are also coming up with various

designs for particular occasions and seasons as well as for the apperal industry in

general, making the world full of fashion. Moreover, Fashion Designers contribute to

other fileds such as cinema and dancing by designing appropriate costumes. Movie

stars and popular singers also get the service of private Fashion Designers as a part of

their lifestyle.

Fashion is not only limited for a particular set of people but for almost everyone and it

doesn‟t matter whether the person is male or female or young or old. In the countries

with a developed Fashion Design industry, people look for the true meaning of

Fashion, making it a tool for personality building. Since the dress is part of the

appearance which has a huge influence on others‟ perceptions on one‟s character and

personality, this should necessarily be taken as something serious. Although the term

„Fashion‟ gives the idea of casual clothing, it also applies to the Formal clothing as

well. Therefore, the Fashion Designers can play a major role in shaping people‟s

lifestyles.

A Design by Stella McCartney at

Paris Fashion Week (Spring

Collection) 2011


5


Contemporary Sri Lankan society and fashion

Considering the contemporary Sri Lankan society, it is evident that the influence of

fashion has a considerable impact on the day-to-day life of people. Being a multi-

cultural society, the adoption of fashion differs from one set of people to another and

it also differs based on the region. However, the awareness on fashion and the use of

it are not up to a satisfactory level in a fashion Designer‟s point of view (These are

further discussed under the socio-cultural analysis).

Sri Lankans have adopted the European and American Fashion designs to a

considerable level. Especially in urban areas, casual clothing styles such as denim

jeans are very popular and even in rural areas, dresses such as trousers, skirts etc. are

widely used. Considering the organizations, formal dress and business suits are

required in most of them. Only the sarees are considered as a professional dress from

all the traditional Sri Lankan dresses.

People nowadays tend to wear colourful and trendy designs with a bit of „fancy‟

touch. Also, an increase in fashion trends and brand loyalty can be seen in the

country. As an example, though it‟s not directly related to clothing, there‟s a trend for

the usage of sneakers started in 2010-2011 period. Also, original and fake products

which carry the famous brand names such as Nike, Adidas and Versace are hugely

consumed. Meanwhile, local Fashion chains like Nolimit and Odel are also

introducing their own brands such as NLM and Embark. These are more focused on

providing Sri Lankans with ideal clothing that suit the local conditions. When

considering the Formal dresses, companies like Hameedia are offering clothing with a

fashion design approach.

European and American Formal Dressing methods are adopted by Sri Lankan organizations while

traditional sarees can also be seen


6

Sri Lankan Fashion Design Industry and local Fashion Designers

Although Sri Lankans have been exposed to Fashion

for a long time even before the Open Economy was

introduced, Fashion Design has not been developed as

an industry when compared to other industries. In the

mid 90‟s the idea of „Fashion Design‟ found its way

into the Sri Lankan society in an influential way. With

the beginning of the 21st Century, Fashion Design

started evolving as a mainstream industry in Sri Lanka

with professional Fashion Academies being started

while the Apparel Industry also started functioning on

its own rather than fully depending on foreign orders.

Sri Lanka has not produced any world class Fashion

Designers upto now. Although there are beauticians

and hair dressers who could make their way to the

international level, Fashion Designers are lagging

behind even within local dimensions. Only within the last decade, Sri Lankans have

had the opportunity of learning Fashion Design in the country. That might be the main

reason for the local Fashion Designers‟ incompetency when it comes to the global

market.

However, it is quite evident that Sri Lankan Fashion Designers have got the talent and

creativity which is required to go a long way in the industry. One example is Ms.

Ruchira Karunaratne, founder of „Rebel‟. She is a qualified Fashion Designer and also

an entrepreneur who has been recognized as a quite successful Fashion Designer. She

still continues her Fashion Design career with highly appreciated designs for Rebel.

Moreover, recently concluded Fashion Shows in Sri Lanka and other countries saw

many Sri Lankan Fashion Designers showcasing their talents with exceptional

designs. Apart from that, local Fashion Designers working for companies like MAS

Holdings and Brandix recently came up with some remarkable designs to suit the

international standards. With all these happening, still the Fashion Design Industry is

finding its place in Sri Lankan economy but currently, it‟s growing at an impressive

rate.

Ruchira Karunaratne, founder of

'Rebel' and also one of the most

recognized Sri Lankan Fashion

Designers


7

PESTEL Analysis

The business environment consists of two major parts, the Micro Environment and the

Macro Environment. The regular SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities,

Threats) Analysis is done on both Micro and Macro Environments. Strengths and

Weaknesses come under the Micro Environment where Opportunities and Threats

arise from the Macro Environmental factors. The Macro Environment is often

analyzed with PESTEL (Political, Economic, Socio-cultural, Technological,

Environmental, Legal) Analysis, which categorizes the external factors.

This is a popular and accepted method of presenting analysis reports as it can show

everything in a detailed yet clear way. The categories cover the factors as follows.

The political environment of the company includes national and international political

factors which can affect its operations. Economic environment can be simply defined

as the totality of economic factors, such as employment, income, inflation, interest

rates, productivity, and wealth that influence the buying behavior of consumers and

institutions. The socio-cultural environment of an individual, also called social

context, is the culture that the individual was educated and/or lives in, and the people

and institutions with whom the person interacts. Technological environment is all the

external factors in technology that impact business operations. Environmental Factors

or the Natural factors are the factors comes from the natural environment and the

surroundings. Legal environment represents the legal factors that affect a company or

an individual.

In this analysis, we have taken the Political and Legal Factors under one topic as there

have not been many significant changes in both areas. Also, the Economic and

Technological factors lack significant changes.


8

Fashion Design Industry and Socio-cultural Environment

Effect of Socio-cultural environment on an industry

Socio- cultural environment has a great impact on each and every industry more than

other environment factors have. That‟s because the success of any industry depends

on how the society welcomes the industry and to what extent it fits the culture.

Although some industries are quite successful in some countries, they may fail in

some other countries.

On the other hand, depending on the ability and skills – especially, the Marketing and

Innovatiive Skills – of people involved in a particular industry, it can even change the

Socio-cultural Environment. Reason for this is simple. Any industry exists to fulfill

the needs and wants of people and people together build up the society and culture.

Therefore, literally, the aim of an industry is basically to fulfill the requirements of

Socio-cultural Environment. An industry should either adapt to the society and the

culture or else it should change the society and culture. In one way or another, the

industry should comply with the Socio-cultural Environment.

Sri Lankan Fashion Design Industry and Socio-cultural Factors

Sri Lanka is a developing South Asian country with a male to female ratio of 0.97:1

(estimated). Most of the people are working in government and private organizations

and the service sector is more popular in the country‟s economy. All these have a

great influence on how fashions are consumed and marketed in the country. Apart

from that, with the open economy, high literacy rate and the rapid development in ICT

in the last decade, people have been influenced by Fashion in a considerable manner.

This has led to a situation in which number of clothing shops in all the parts of the

country offering the market with numerous choices for those who seek fashionable

clothing. This adoption of fashion is mainly based on few vital demographic factors

such as gender, age, race, income and job as well as on other socio-cultural factors

like attitudes of people, Religious views, income distribution and lifestyles.


9

Gender, Fashion and Fashion Design Industry

This is the basic factor that influences fashion in almost all the parts of the world.

Sometime back, Sri Lankan males were not much interested in fashion when

compared with females. Nowadays both males and females are interested in

fashionable clothing and accessories and lot of choices are there in the market for

them. On the other hand, still some people – specially the older generation - think that

fashion is only for females but not for males.

However, currently, on day-to-day streets of urban areas, it‟s quite evident that people

are into fashion and it does not heavily depend on gender. One good example is the

use of pink coloured clothes. A colour which was reserved for females has now

become a fashionable colour worn by both males and females and it is not only in

casual wear. Formal office dresses also come in lighter pink colours which are

accepted as decent and impressive in general. Denim fashions are also popular within

both genders, especially the youth. When it comes to gender‟s influence on clothing,

only the basics of clothing remains unchanged (E.g.: Blouses are made for females

and shirts are for males) but various colours and styles are adopted by both genders.

Still, the exposure of body is not much encouraged or accepted in the society and it‟s

applicable for both males and females. Although there are lot of fashion designs of

that kind which are popular, they do not exceed a certain limit due to cultural reasons.

Therefore, the Fashion Designs for Sri Lankan society can be done in many ways and

freely for both males and females. The western clothing methods give a designer lot

of freedom on design and decoration of a dress and there are potential customers for

almost all the types of day-to-day clothes in Sri Lanka. Only thing is that a Fashion

Designer should be aware of the potential market for a particular product. In the

gender aspect, the society can be mainly divided into four parts, namely Rural

Females, Rural Males, Urban Females and Urban Males. Although the fashion

approaches of these four sectors differ according to other factors, the significant

difference is due to the geographical background.

In the Fashion Design sector, a large number of females are attracted to the profession

and comparatively it‟s higher than the number of males. When it comes to the quality

of designs, both males and females have performed well recently. Still, in the


10

corporate sector (E.g. companies like MAS), chief fashion designers who hold

managerial positions are mostly males and that‟s changing rapidly with the high

enrollment of female to the Fashion Academies. Therefore, Fashion and Fashion

Design is becoming non-responsive to the gender segregation.

The effect of age on Fashion Design Industry

When considering the age groups, the ageing population of the country is increasing.

According to 2010 estimations, the age variation is as follows.

Age Males Females Total

0-14 2757000 2674000 5431000

15-39 4325000 4369000 8694000

40-60 2266000 2352000 4618000

61+ 901000 1009000 1910000

Generally, elder people are not that interested in fashion but the younger generation is

very keen to be fashionable and seek the latest fashion designs. Anyhow, the middle

aged and younger aged population along with preteens and teens set up about the half

of the country‟s population. Therefore, the market for the fashion designs and

fashionable clothing has a huge potential in Sri Lanka. Also, the vast majority of these

age groups are contributing to the labor force and therefore, clothing and fashion is a

day-to-day need of their lives.

Considering the Fashion Design industry, the younger generation is considerably

interested in choosing Fashion Design as a profession. It‟s same with Modeling,

which is bound with Fashion Design Industry. Eventhough the older people are not

quite aware of the field in general and they still don‟t have a vaey pleasant idea on

Fashion Design Industry, there is lot of young Fashion Designers entering Fashion

Design academies and also taking part in Fashion Design competitions. However, the

influence of parents‟ attitudes towards the industry is an obstacle for many talented

youngsters with a huge potential in Fashion Design Industry.


11

Income, Occupation and Fashion Design Industry

The consumer behavior hugely depends on income and occupation of people and the

consumption of clothes is affected by these than many other consumer goods. Being a

Shopping Good under the product classification of Marketing, a dress is purchased

with lot of planning and comparison. This planning and comparison of quality, price

etc. are directly affected by the income and occupation of the buyer. This is due to the

ability of purchasing and the environment in which the dress is worn.

Many organizations allow females to come in casual or merely formal dresses to

work. Anyhow, they are requested to maintain a suitable and a decent dress which

complies with the organizational culture and the values of the organization. Therefore,

the Fashion Design Industry is provided with a strong potential market for female

casual wear but there should be a consideration for the country‟s cultural issues and

the expectations of local organizations. Apart from that, the occupation resembles the

social class and acceptance of a person and that‟s another reason for the occupation to

become a vital factor in choosing fashion.

However, the income of people is also a deciding factor when it comes to purchasing

apparel. Sri Lanka is still a developing country with a per capita income of $ 2400.

Most of the trendy and fashionable clothing designs are slightly higher in price when

compared with normal clothing solutions. As an example, a good normal blouse can

be bought for a price of Rs. 500.00 but a better design with a silky material would

cost some additional Rs. 250.00. Therefore, with the income of people, diversity of

fashion is limited to a part of the society. This can be clearly seen by observing the

day-to-day clothing of people from Colombo and suburbs. Lower middle class people

are limited to a certain pattern of clothing while the middle and upper middle classes

diversify from that pattern upon their income and social background.

Moreover, Fashion Design is now gaining popularity as a profession with a high

income. As mentioned earlier, youth is attracted to this industry and it is also an

industry with a high income. Although the income of Sri Lankan Fashion Designers is

not as high as in developed countries, the payments are considerably higher than

many other local industries. Apart from this, Modeling is also considered as a

profession with the conventional views fading.


12

Challenge from the Ethnic and Religious views

Sri Lanka is a multi-racial and multi-cultural South Asian country. More or less

depending on own religious and racial values, people used to have generally common

idea on the way they dress. However, the adoption of fashion differs significantly

within different ethnic and religious groups.

Because of the Sinhalese majority and Tamils who make up nearly 90% of the

country‟s population, the saree is one of the most common and popular dresses

despite being extremely impractical for an active and busy lifestyle. Among Tamil

women, sarees with lot of artwork and vivid colours are popular but Sinhalese woman

go for plain sarees and sarees without clearly visible artwork with a higher interest in

lighter colours. Anyway, the contribution of Fashion Designers in saree market is very

poor when considering the consumption of sarees. Most of the good designs are

coming from India where Sri Lankans have an attitude that Indian imported sarees are

of good quality and design. However, the situation changes when it comes to wedding

dresses. The Buddhist-Sinhalese culture mostly uses the saree as the traditional

wedding dress and a lot of effort is put in order to make it as beautiful and pleasant as

possible. Therefore, the local Fashion Designers get the opportunity of designing

wedding sarees but they still have to compete with the readymade designs which are

suitable as wedding sareers.

Indian cultural dresses like shawls and Panjabi dresses are popular among Tamil and

Muslim females of 15-40 age group. Most of these are decorated with vivid colours

and patterns which resemble Indian and Arabic artwork. However, the market for

these are limited because of the Sinhalese majority is more interested Western

clothing concepts. Currently, it is seen that the effect of religious and ethnic

backgrounds is losing its grip on people‟s dress. Muslim women can be seen with

denim jeans and they often consider the shawl as a fashionable piece of clothing.

All these again change upon the social background. Though the Sri Lankan culture

generally sees women with miniskirts or deep neck blouses and men with V color

shirts or cargo pants as inappropriate, it is different when it comes to social events like

musical shows or get-togethers. The upper middle class and upper class people are

quite comfortable with such dresses and the others also don‟t see it as inappropriate


13

when such people wear those dresses. When going deeper into this, it is evident that

people from rich Catholic or Christian backgrounds are more into the western dresses.

However, for men, there aren‟t many significant differences among various ethnic and

religious groups. Some Muslim men can be seen wearing their traditional Kurtha type

shirts but when it comes to the working people, they also wear Western Formal

Dresses. Urban Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim men are mostly into global casual

clothing.

An overview on Socio-cultural impact on Fashion Design Industry

In the cultural aspect, Sri Lankans generally have a negative attitude on fashion.

According to the people in Fashion Design Industry, the first impression of Sri

Lankans towards the word „fashion‟ is mixed with nudity and exposure of the body.

Although Fashion Design is basically focused on developing the most suitable fashion

or the dress, considering everything such as the person and the environment, it is not

what Sri Lankans see from the words „Fashion‟ and „Fashion Design‟. Also, there is

criticism towards those who try to think in a positive manner about fashion. This is

a major issue that slows down the development of Fashion Design Industry in many

ways. On one hand, it keeps people away from using fashion in day-to-day life. On

the other hand, it keeps talented people from entering the Fashion Design field.

MAS Intimates is one good example for that. MAS Intimates, Bodyline and Slimline

are well reputed undergarment manufacturing firms in the world but their market is

international corporate customers, not the Sri Lankan retail market. Moreover, despite

being recognized for their superiority in lingerie manufacturing and the sound

financial background, MAS and Brandix both are not willing to make any major

investments in promoting lingerie in Sri Lanka. Though it is gaining popularity

among the new generation, still the market does not have a huge potential for such

sex-related apparel designs. Apart from that, most of the local Fashion Designers pay

a little attention to undergarments but they focus mainly on day-to-day clothing


14

solutions. Considering the fact that the lingerie is considered to be a masterpiece of

Fashion Design, the cultural issues are quite damaging in this case.

In Sri Lanka, the attitudes of the older generation are quite influential on youth and it

mostly comes from parents. This has reduced the popularity of certain fashion

concepts – especially the dresses which uncover the body „too much‟ – among youth.

This is a threat and a limiting factor for the contemporary Fashion Designers in

coming up with suitable designs for the Sri Lankan market.

Recent Changes in the Socio-cultural Environment

Changes in attitude

The above mentioned attitude towards fashion with the idea of nudity and sex can still

be seen within the older generation of Sri Lanka. This attitude of parents and other

elders has led to many unnecessary worries and it causes the younger generation to

avoid certain fashion concepts and also it keeps youngsters from entering the fashion

Design industry. However, over the last few years, these have become generalized

and people are starting to look at Fashion and Fashion Design Industry with a more

open mid.

The conventional attitude of fashion being something that is reserved for women is

also fading in the Sri Lankan society. Not only colourful clothes but also fancy

accessories are worn by men with hair styles have also found their place among Sri

Lankan males. Best example is the above stated Pink colour. On the other hand,

exports from countries like Thailand which are highly exposed to the international

markets are quite popular in Sri Lankan apparel market. Because of this, the global

trends became very popular in the country. One such fashion is casual shirts with

printed wordings and graphics. Lot of people has moved from plain shirts to these

fancy shirt designs. Same with denim jeans. Nowadays, lot of Sri Lankans wear

stylish denims with patterns etc. instead of plain denims.


15

Fashion shows

Fashion shows have become a social event by now. Few years ago, it was generally

considered as inappropriate for the country‟s culture but not anymore. Even higher

education institutes organize Fashion shows in order

to attain various objectives. These objectives cover a

wide range from fund raising to public awareness

and mere entertainment. As an example, Sri Lanka

national cricket team took part in a charity fashion

show called Light of change in 2010 which drew

lot of attention and money. This was organized by

MAS Holdings to assist rural youth through a sound corporate education. SILK AND

SPICE Charity fashion show in London and Colombo is also focused on raising

funds for Educate A Child Trust.

Meanwhile, many organizations use fashion shows as an entertainment function as

well as a promotional tool. It can be seen that certain product launches and opening

ceremonies are followed by fashion shows, though the product or the place has no

direct connection to fashion.

Effect of Ethical Fashion

In the Fashion Design Industry, the global trend towards ethical fashion has been very

influential over the last few years. This is more or less a Micro Environmental change

but the reasons behind this change are mostly Socio-cultural factors. ‘Garments

without Guilt - The Ethos of the Sri Lankan Apparel Industry’, epitomizes the synergy

between ethical brands and apparel made in Sri Lanka. The code of ethical fashion in

Sri Lanka has been thoroughly practiced by almost all the apparel manufacturers and

especially by the companies like MAS and Brandix. Moreover, Sri Lanka

launched the South East Asia‟s first Ethical Fashion week with the launch of HSBC

Colombo Fashion Week for the seventh consecutive year in February 2011. Apart

from that, The Ethical Fashion Symposium is organized by Sri Lanka Design Festival,

Sri Lanka‟s premier Fashion Design event. Meanwhile, the reputed Fashion Chain

Odel launched their brand Embark as a fundraiser for kennel welfare programme.

Sri Lankan cricketers at 'Light of

Change'


16

Fashion Education and Society

Over a decade ago, the Fashion Designers of Sri Lanka mostly came from rich, upper

class families and they were drawn to the industry mainly because of their likeness

and passion towards Fashion Design. However, nowadays, middle class and upper

middle class people are also seeking their paths in fashion Design Industry as it has

become a profession with a lot of potential for creative minds. The education industry

has also taken necessary measures to fulfill their needs by starting few fashion

academies and starting various Fashion Design courses. From basic sewing courses to

Fashion Design Degrees, these are followed by hundreds of youth.

University of Moratuwa offers two degrees of this sector. One of them is the Fashion

Design and Textile Development degree from the Faculty of Engineering and the

other one is the Design (Architecture) degree from the Faculty of Architecture. The

latter is a degree with 6 specialization fields with Fashion Design being one of them.

Apart from that, the Academy of Design and LIFT Academy are leading the Sri

Lanka‟s private fashion education field. All these provide their students with

professional knowledge as well as fashion shows and experience to mould them to

suit the international standards.


17

Political and Legal Environments related to Fashion Design

Legal side in Fashion Design Industry

Fashion is a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in

clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current

trend in look and dress up of a person. The more technical term costume, has become

so linked in the public eye with the term fashion that the more general term

"costume" has in popular use mostly been relegated to special senses like fancy dress

or masquerade wear, while the term "fashion" means clothing generally, and the study

of it. This is useful when setting up and understanding the legal and political terms

and practices used in Fashion Design field. As any other industry, Fashion Design

also has certain legal concerns.

Intellectual Property Rights

To take inspiration from others' designs contributes to the fashion industry's ability to

establish clothing trends. For the past few years WGSN (Fashion Forecaster) has

been a dominant source of fashion news and forecasts in steering fashion brands

worldwide to be inspired by one another. Enticing consumers to buy clothing by

establishing new trends is, some have argued, a key component of the industry's

success. Intellectual property rules that interfere with the process of trend-making

would be counter-productive on this view. In contrast, it is often argued that the

blatant theft of new ideas, unique designs, and design details by larger companies is

what often contributes to the failure of many smaller or independent design

companies. Moreover, the intellectual property rights ensure a satisfactory income and

job security for Fashion Designers.

However, not only Fashion Designers but all the design artists in Sri Lanka barely

have this legal protection. Within the fashion industry, intellectual property is not

enforced as it is within the film industry or the music industry and the protection

which they get from the legal measures and political policies are literally zero. Until

now, Sri Lanka could not come up with a suitable law to protect Fashion Designers

specifically. Considering the fact that this is an emerging industry with a considerable

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costume_party

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masquerade_ball

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WGSN_%28fashion_forecaster%29&action=edit&redlink=1


18

growth and lot of interest among people, it is crucial that the government should take

necessary measures to protect Fashion Designers and their intellectual property rights.

Many Fashion Designers do not get proper payments for their designs and also this

issues has caused a number of talented people to become part time Fashion Designers

who works upon contracts. This is obviously a discouraging factor for any design

artist.

The need of a professional body

Professional Bodies is a globally accepted and used concept for the betterment of

industries. These are either government or mostly independent associations consist of

professionals in a particular field. This is widely used in Sri Lanka as well. One good

example is the Institute of Engineers Sri Lanka (IESL) which represents the

chartered Engineers of the country. They have the authority to give the acceptance as

a Chartered Engineer and at the same time,

they represent Engineers in legal or any other

issue. These professional bodies often set the

standards for the related field and they also

provide certain facilities to uplift the living and

working conditions of the field‟s professionals.

The Techno Exhibition organized by the IESL

is one example fo this. It encourages people to

come up with innovative ideas while providing

a platform for the country‟s engineering field exhibits. After all, when all get together

in a form of a legal body, they can be quite influential in fighting for their rights.

However, the Sri Lankan Fashion Designers and all the other design artists except for

Architects lack a legal body to represent them. Although Fashion Design has been

taught for a period of almost a decade, still neither the government nor the Fashion

Designers have taken any initiatives to set up a professional body. This is also vital in

maintaining sound inter-personal relationships within the professionals. Currently,

most of the Sri Lankan Fashion Designers are left alone form the rest. Most

importantly, the lack of a legal representation has weakened them in gaining their

'Robogames' at 'Techno 2011' Exhibition saw

many Engineering Undergraduates

showcasing their talents


19

rights such as the Intellectual Property Rights. On the other hand, many Sri Lankan

Fashion Designers does not have the financial background to represent important

global events like the Paris Fashion Week. Usually, other Professional Bodies assist

their professionals in gaining access to the globe. Apart from these, there isn‟t an

official benchmark Fashion Show which is organized by Fashion Designers. All the

Fashion Shows and competitions are organized by educational institutes or other

institutes.

Political side in Fashion Design Industry

Ever since the Fashion Design Industry was introduced to Sri Lanka, there has not

been any significant contribution form the political environment. It is notable that the

country‟s political policies are not at all focused on Fashion Design Industry.

Considering the fact that the country‟s income hugely depends on Apparel Industry, it

is sad to see that politicians are not interested in developing the Fashion Design

Industry. The reason behind might be the lesser influential power of Fashion

Designers and other Design Artists on people when compared with singers and actors

etc.. Therefore, benefit oriented Sri Lankan politicians have nothing much to gain by

helping Fashion Designers.

Since a change in law is usually initiated by the government, depending on its

political policies, the legal protection for Fashion Designers is still far away. On the

other hand, even the opposition parties are not interested in uplifting the Fashion

Design Industry. Political policies on nature and environment should also empower

and encourage Eco Fashion concepts. Recently, Sri Lankan Fashion Designer

Vidhura Ralapanawe was shortlisted with four other foreigners to be selected for the

famous Honda Dream Factory but the government could not be seen taking any

notable effort in order to assist him. It is evident that a prope political propaganda is

essential from all the parties to develop the Sri Lankan Fashion Design Industry

without which the final result is a slowdown in Fashion Design Industry‟s

development.


20

Natural Environment, Go-Green and Fashion Design

The effect of Seasons and Climate on Fashion and Sri Lankan Fashion Designers

In European and American markets which usually set the benchmarks, fashion

changes with the seasons. When designing a dress, a Fashion Designer has to think

about so many things from the material to the matching colors and that hugely depend

on environmental changes. Therefore, apparel manufacturers and Fashion Designers

have to focus on weather and the seasons. Especially, the Summer fashions and

Winter Fashions are notable in changing the dressing patterns and styles of people.

But Sri Lankan fashion designers do not have to focus much on the seasonal changes

when designing for the local market. This is because Sri Lankans do not choose

fashions according to seasons like winter, summer, etc. and the only significant

seasonal change here are the rainy seasons. However, this has not created a change in

attire and dressing patterns of people as in countries with notable seasonal climate

changes.

They lack the awareness and knowledge to target on seasonal climate changes which

creates a huge market once in few months. Another concern is that a Designer from a

country like Sri Lanka should either has the influencial power and financial

background or else a superb talent and awareness to come up with a noteworthy

design for these seasonal changes. Therefore, this has become a barrier when local

Fashion Designers are entering the global market.

Winter Fashion Designs (three photos in the left) and Summer Fashion Designs (three photos in the right)

are totally different and should be created considering lot of factors


21

Go-Green, Eco Fashion Concept and Sri Lankan Fashion Design Industry

The term Ethical Fashion represents an approach to the design, sourcing and

manufacture of clothing which maximizes benefits to people and communities while

minimizing impact on the environment. Under this comes the Eco Fashion which is a

broader term used for all clothing, fabrics and accessories that have been

manufactured in an environmentally conscious way. This is part of the Go-Green

concept

Organic and recycled clothing as well as garments made using a wide range of eco

fabrics now available in the global market, though it is not yet popular in Sri Lanka.

All these come under the Eco Fashion concept. Technological developments in the

textile sector have caused the environmentally friendly textiles to become a viable

alternative to conventional fabrics.

However, Sri Lankan Fashion Designers have not been asked to follow these Sri

Lankan market has some brands like Brandix and MAS that practice Eco Fashion

concept but the Sri Lankan market is not yet ready to accept these as essentials. Also,

the rules and regulations are not officially set to harness these practices. Even the

Fashion Design Academies are not focused on teaching and promoting these practices

when compared with developed countries.

However, the overall green and eco fashion approach of Sri Lankan Fashion Design

Industry is in a satisfactory level despite the lack or support from the public and the

government. This is mainly due to the developed countries with which Sri Lankan

Apparel manufacturers deal with. Since these foreign clients expect their suppliers to

follow the internationally accepted standards, Sri Lankan Apparel Industry have taken

necessary measures to meet those standards. Fashion Design, which is a part of it is

following these measures.


22

Sri Lanka’s place in Eco Fashion

Though the Sri Lankan market is not interested in Eco

friendly products and production methods, the Sri Lankan

Apparel and Fashion Design Industries have placed

themselves in a fairly high position among the other

countries. As mentioned earlier, this is led by few leading

Apparel Manufacturers such as MAS Holdings, Brandix

and Hidramani Group. Following them, the whole Apparel

Manufacturing Industry is moving along a greener path

while the Fashion Designers contribute in a similar

manner. In 2009 and 2010 respectively, Brandix Green

Apparel Factory in Seeduwa and MAS Thurulie Factory in Seeduwa were awarded

the Platinum rating by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

(LEED).

Taking this another giant step forward, Manager of

Sustainability and Communications at MAS Intimates,

Vidhura Ralapanawe from the above mentioned MAS

Thurulie Factory has led the local team that designed and

produced the Autograph Leaves Collection Multiway Bra

which is considered as the world‟s first Carbon Neutral Bra.

This is made for the prominent Mark & Spenser Company and

a true Fashion Designer‟s approach is behind the production.

From the design to the material and production methods,

everything has been planned and done precisely to keep the

Carbon Neutral State.n This has allowed him to contest for a place at the Honda

Dream Factory as a ‘Cultural Engineer’, a global project to gather people with

noteworthy contributions towards sustainable development.

The only concern is the lack of designing opportunities available for Sri Lankan

fashion Designers. This is due to the nature of Sri Lankan Apparel Industry which is

mostly focused on manufacturing rather than production with designing.

Vidhura Ralapanawe, the

designer of world's first

Carbon Neutral Bra

World's first Carbon

Neutral bra, made by

'MAS Intimates' for

'Mark & Spenser'

http://www.marksandspencer.com/Autograph-Leaves-Collection-Multiway-Bra/dp/B004QLCA48


23

Effect of Economic Factors on Fashion Design Industry

Place of Fashion Design Industry in Sri Lankan economy

About 10 years ago Fashion Designing was not a recognized career as few people

were engaged in it. But nowadays fashion design has become very popular among

younger generation as a profession. In competitive world fashion designers have

gained a great social status. Similarly, in Si Lanka also the Fashion Design Industry is

gaining a status as a respected and special profession with a lot of potential. However,

it is still a part of other mainstream industries such as Apparel Industry and Bridal

Dressing etc.

Since the direct contribution form the Fashion Design Industry to the country‟s

economy is not significant as other mainstream industries and there is a handful

engaged in Fashion Design, the effect of Economic factors on Fashion Design is also

not high. There are few main jobs available in Fashion Design as follows but only few

of these can be found in Sri Lanka.

Fashion designer They create new styles for clothing by sketching original

designs and responsible for selecting fabrics, trimmings,

current update on the latest fabrics and fitting the finished

clothing to its proper size. The designer usually starts the

designing work only after market research.

Fashion coordinator A fashion coordinator‟s work includes checking fabric for

correct shade, quality and design, sorting daily problems,

giving advice on latest fashion trends, meeting with buyers and

taking right decisions regarding fabric design, color. Fashion

Coordinator may be supposed to travel to get an idea of the

fashion trends.

Illustrator Draws free hand sketches as per designers ideas and at times

interacts with customers about new collection.

Fashion consultant Fashion consultant has to be aware of the latest trends in the

fashion industry. They offer suggestions on how to further

develop a product.


24

Cutting Assistant Cutting Assistant cut and modifies samples as per

specifications of the designer.

Fashion Stylist Fashion Stylist area involves coordinating the dress, accessory,

make-up, and hairstyle as per the theme of a show or an event.

Costume Designer Costume Designers usually work for movies and dancing crews

etc. in order to provide the crew with appropriate and

scientifically designed costumes.

In Sri Lankan Economy, mainly Fashion Designers can be found. Even though it is

the practice of foreign firms to employ qualified people with knowledge in Fashion

Design for other jobs too, here the situation is different due to the cost factor.

Consultation is mostly done by a manager and cutting assistants are mostly the

experienced workers those who do not possess a wide awareness on Fashion

Designing.

However, they are not getting extremely high incomes as the foreign Fashion

Designers. One major reason for this is that the local Fashion Designers are not

marketing themselves and opportunities for them to market themselves and their

designs are rare in Sri Lankan Economy. In the economic stream, the vast majority of

qualified fashion Designers either choose another profession while doing Fashion

Design as a part time job or go abroad seeking better jobs in Europe etc.. The rest join

some other industries like wedding planning or bridal dressing while a few get the

opportunity to join local Apparel Manufacturing companies. Only a handful like

earlier mentioned Ruchira Karunaratne establishe themselves as Fashion Designers.

On the other hand, costume designers also have a little part to do when it comes to the

film industry or dancing troops. Popular dancing academies like Channa-Upulie are

not always seeking the assistance of Fashion Designers. Considering the Channa-

Upulie Academy, the chief fashion Designer of their dancing crew is the founder and

famous dancer Channa Wijewardena himself. With the low budgets allowed by the

economy of the country and commercial value which has become the major concern,

film industry also does not seek professional help in costume designing. This has led

to many mismatches in movie scenes and also in tele-dramas but only a mega scale

production like Aba sees a professional Fashion Designer as the costume designer.


25

Technological Environment and Fashion Design Industry

Sri Lanka has not reached a high place in technological development. Anyhow, the

Apparel Industry and therefore the fashion Design Industry too have reached a

satisfactory level. This is mainly due to the developed countries which act as clients

for Sri Lankan apparel products.

Modern Technology and its effect

As any other design field, Fashion Design has also reached a state where it uses the

latest technology when it comes to drawing and designing. With Computer Aided

Drawing (CAD) to the internationally recognized Rotring and Staedtler drawing

equipment, Sri Lanka has got almost everything for a fashion Designer to use. Also

the research and product development sectors have been developed to meet the high

international standards. A good example is the previously mentioned Green Bra

designed by MAS Intimates. This was done with a lot of background studies and

latest technology to determine the carbon footprint of the product. Related to these,

the whole Apparel industry is focusing on sustainability and green concepts, forcing

Fashion Designers to focus more and more on Eco fashion.

Craft Based Fashion Design Techniques

With these Eco Fashion concepts gaining popularity, there‟s a trend to promote local

arts. Because of all these and the increasing demand for uniqueness and hand crafted

quality, Craft based fashion has reached the lime light within the past few years.

Under this, the traditional design and production techniques such as Handloom

weaving, Batik, Beeralu lace and Hand knitting have made a strong comeback to the

apparel market. Simultaneously, Fashion Designers have been influenced by these in

their casualwear designs. As a result, the essence of Batiks and lace patterns can be

seen in modern casualwear. However, apart from these, ther has not been any

significant development in the related Technological Environment in Sri Lankan

Fashion Design Industry.


26

Developing the Sri Lankan Fashion Design Industry

There are number of measures that can be taken in order to develop the Sri Lankan

Fashion Design Industry. Since the industry is still in its developing era, these are

vital and also should be taken as soon as possible. Following are some suggestions

which can be used to uplift the standards of the industry.

Enforcing legal protection for fashion Designs

Considering the developed countries, there are laws to protect almost everything and

it is applicable to the Fashion Design Industry as well. Design Piracy Prohibition Act

which is an Act to amend title 17 to the United States Code, to extend protection to

fashion design and for other purposes and Stop Counterfeiting in Manufactured

Goods Act which amends the United States federal criminal code to revise provisions

prohibiting the trafficking in counterfeit can be taken as two good examples of

protecting the design rights of Fashion Designers.

However, currently the Sri Lankan intellectual property rights field is functioning

very weakly and immediate actions should be taken by the government to ensure the

legal protection for intellectual property, including Fashion and Clothing Designs.

Setting up a Professional Body to represent Fashion Designers

As mentioned earlier, a Professional Body is a vital factor in developing and

safeguarding an industry. Anyhow, Sri Lankan Fashion Designers are yet to be

formed as an accepted legal entity. Over the last decade, at least 1000 Fashion

Designers have been produced by Sri Lanka but they still lack a Professional Body

and pre-set standards that match the country.

Therefore, either the government or an accepted institute like University of Moratuwa

or Academy of Design should take the initiative to form a legal association to

represent either Fashion Designers or Design Artists in a whole.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:s.1957:


27

Promoting Fashion Design through career guidance programmes in schools

Nowadays it has become a common practice to have career guidance programmes for

school children and school leavers. These can be used to draw the attention of

youngsters and also to raise the awareness among adults on Fashion Design Industry.

This can also be used to identify the young talent and creativity which can be further

developed. It is important as still Sri Lanka teenagers do not have the willingness to

become a Fashion Designer when compared with the willingness to enter other

common and socially accepted professions like Doctors, Engineers and Managers.

With this, it is possible to get more people seeking entrance to the Fashion Design

Field, thus enhancing the standards through competition while forcing the society and

other related industries to give the acceptance to Fashion Design as a mainstream

industry.

Giving a proper Marketing and Management knowledge for Fashion

Designers

Management skills and qualifications are becoming essential to survive in the fast

moving modern business world. It is similar with the Fashion Design Industry,

causing the Fashion Designers with the management skills to have a competitive edge

over the others. Marketing skills and knowledge is even more important, especially

for those who wish to build up a “name” and a sound income through Fashion Design.

However, the Sri Lankan Fashion Designers lack both management and marketing

skills, thus resulting in inability to market or rather brand themselves in the market.

Even the Design (Architecture) Degree in University of Moratuwa, which is the only

government degree that offers the specialization in Fashion Design and the oldest

degree of its kind doesn‟t focus much on Marketing or Management Skills. Marketing

is taught only as a subject module before starting the specialization. Other institutes

are not much different in this case. Therefore, it is useful to teach Fashion Design

undergraduates Marketing with a good practice and awareness on how to apply

marketing and Branding skills to the present day Fashion Design Industry.


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Educating Fashion Designers on Seasonal Changes and potential foreign

markets

Understanding and knowing the foreign markets and their trends is vital in winning

the international market. However, Sri Lankans face a difficulty in understanding

Seasonal changes in Fashion because Sri Lankans are not used to those. Therefore, a

proper study should be done on foreign seasonal clothing styles in order to make local

designers aware of it. This can be easily done through the degrees etc. by assigning

them with tasks to study those.

Developing other related fields

Sri Lankan movie and teledrama awarding ceremonies and other felicitation

ceremonies should focus more on acknowledging Fashion and Costume designs.

Currently, it is not done in a satisfactory way. If there‟s an award dedicated for

costume designing, producers will definitely be encouraged to spend some extra

amount of money in order to win another award which ultimately uplifts the movie‟s

reputation.

Promoting Fashion Designs through social and international events

Events like Hikka Fest and Film Festivals, etc. can be used as ideal opportunities to

promote Fashion Design Industry both locally and internationally. Considering the

Hikka Fest which annually draws a huge foreign attraction, a Fashion Show which is

organized simultaneously to the festival can be an ideal platform to showcase local

Fashion Designs. It is also helpful to come up with foreign market oriented Fashion

Designs and beachwear etc. and to study the response of foreigners.


29

Raising the awareness on fashion among public

One noteworthy step taken by Hameedia recently is advising people on how to dress

and how to use fashion in order to get the best out of it. Likewise, other Fashion stores

and also Fashion Designers and Social Services organizations can take initiatives to

help public understanding the true value and the meaning of Fashion and the proper

use of it.

On the other hand, the Fashion Designers also have to be educated on the the

country‟s demand and how to fulfill the needs within the country. This can also be

easily done through the educational institutes. Also, esteemed organizations with a

reputation in Fashion Design like Rebel and Hameedia should be taken to this

process.


30

Acknowledgements

Our heartfelt gratitude for the following people who helped us in various aspects…

Ms. Anupama Nawalage

Lecturer / Coordinator

Design (Architecture) Degree - Fashion Design Section

Faculty of Architecture

University of Moratuwa

Mr. Madushanka Wickramasinghe

Undergraduate

Design (Architecture) Degree



Ms. Aurasi Ranasinghe

Undergraduate

Design (Architecture) Degree



Ms. Ayomi Jayaweera

Higher Diploma

Lanka Institute of Fashion Design

Lifestyle

Sri Lankan Fashion Design Industry