Ayodya Rathnayake

Since bagging the title of Designer of the Year 2011, Ayodya Rathnayake’s life has been a whirlwind of success. The young designer, a graduate from the Academy of Design, is currently working hard on creating her own line.

Looking back, Ayodya credits the competition for teaching her to cope with details such as meeting deadlines, time management and working with new people. As the main focus was bringing out the true identity of a designer, she was given total freedom to work. Something she said is vital for any designer is to be creative; “it helped us learn how to stand on our own and to manage a collection all by ourselves.”influenced by designers such as Issey Miyake and Manish Arora, along with her own personal taste, her designs are about clothes that not only look good but feel good too, “I love designing because not only does it feel great to dress in one of your own designs, it’s also the fact that it’s ‘designing’. Its how you can express yourself and more importantly, when you see people wearing your designs you know you’re being appreciated for your work,” said Ayodya.

Her advice for aspiring designers is, always believe in your designs and follow your style because ultimately they are what bring out your true personality. Also, always listen to what the critics say because with time you will learn how things work in the industry, which will make things easier in the future. “It was a great experience making friends with the other designers and not forgetting Zainab Ammarah who was there to support us throughout the competition.