It’s all about being conscious
YASISURIE CELEBRATES SEVEN YEARS IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY
Yasisurie Kiribandara, the brainchild of several fashion brands including a design school that caters to budding designers who want to make a change is celebrating seven years in the industry. Having faced life’s challenges and taking every turning point as a lesson, Yasisurie is looking forward to bringing conscious and innovative products to her clientele in future as well.
“When I reflect on the past seven years it has been a story of growth,” she said in an interview with Daily Mirror Life. “Seven years is a long time and from a starry eyed kid who started a brand with no idea about how it really works to where both the brand and I have come so far is a real journey of growth. Sometimes growth happens for all to see and sometimes growth happens in silence. So I have been through both phases, where I have had years in the limelight and press and been out there all the time for years and some years of quiet growth where I sort of retreated almost from the press but really focused on my brand, products and how we serve our long standing customers. It has been certainly rewarding and has taught me a lot. I have been able to support some bright eyed youngsters too who did keep on the path and am very happy with their progress too! Ultimately that has given a lot of inner satisfaction. My products, our range and how we reach our customers have been closely monitored and deliberately sent in a certain direction. You could say I am still building it.. It’s always evolving and that’s a joy!”
However, running a startup or a selfemployed business during a pandemic has its own challenges. But for Yasisurie, her past experiences have made her prepare during times of adversities. “The decisions I made when I was going through some personal issues helped me keep afloat and be steady during this time. I am so grateful for the Lord’s inner guidance because slow and steady always wins the race. Having work everyday even through a lockdown is a great blessing and planning on expanding horizons albeit in a small manner from the inception has helped us so much. Being a small business means during a market fall, it can really collapse or manage at a pace, building relationships on a long term has helped us manage the pace. We also diversified in to a conscious high street brand during lockdown and did it in a small way. That helped bring an additional income.”
The Couture Fashion Training Centre Sri Lanka is another one of her concepts to spread knowledge and skills on couture design to the Sri Lankan paradigm. “This is because I saw there was a huge gap in the knowledge base available when I was trying to recruit or to get interns. At the moment we have several courses that are taught online ( due to pandemic borne restrictions) and we teach Couture Fashion exclusively. Initially of course for a year or so they have to learn the basics and then we move onto the more detailed Diploma course. Many of our students are successfully running their own brands or working. Some even overseas.
And my hope is that we will have some skilled designers who can make more than a basic dress or t shirt in future.”
Even though the fashion industry is all about following trends etc, for Yasisurie it’s about making timeless designs that would last long. “Having been a conscious brand from its inception we are even more conscious of our waste and we utilize it in some way rather than putting them into landfills. We use organic fabric mostly and everything is made in-house and are made in small quantities. We are a slow fashion business. We pride ourselves in it. Even the latest streetwear brand we started “Y Brand SL” is a conscious brand and uses consciously procured fabric which is low on waste.”
In conclusion she thanked every person and company that supported her throughout her journey and will keep supporting her with a clear conscience into the future. “I thank God, my family, friends, clients, students and supporters and well wishers. The ones who believed in me and keep believing in me and the vision and what we create. Our hope is to keep creating more amazing designs for you into the future.”