Night of glam

The first night of HSBC Colombo Fashion Week 2012, February 24th, was full of glamour and style. The Hilton ballroom was filled with fashion designers and Colombo's fashion lovers who were gathered to watch this annual extravaganza.

International and local designers showcased their designs on the opening night, with several making their Colombo Fashion Week debut. The show was opened by the Middle Finger's new line designed by Fahad Sheriff who showcased a stylish collection for men, casual and formal wear expanding into a range of fashionable accessories such as ties, shoes etc.

Supermodel Perine Fernando who is the Colombo Fashion Week spokesperson made her first appearance at this year's Fashion Week modelling Gaetano Navarra's line; she wore an elegant white piece designed by Gaetano. The showstopper for the night was KT Brown presenting designs of a mixture of gold and green with retro diagonal stripes. Kanchana, the woman behind the KT Brown's line, has indeed done a great job and many talked of her after the grand event. The line was also showcased in a different way. Two models appeared first dancing and the rest followed dancing on the ramp to Paul Simon's song 'Diamond on the soles of her shoes'. There was much spirit in the way it was done.

Another designer who presented an interesting line was Lilian Pereira with several beautiful creations for evening wear, office wear and casual wear.

However, it was Sonali Dharmawardena, who got the most applause from the audience for her nature inspired line "Hope for the future" made in batik style. Incorporating her feelings of devastation while travelling around Sri Lanka after the tsunami , the collection was a powerful statement that resonated with the audience.

Overall visually pleasing, the long pauses between collec- tions which disturbed the flow were a drawback on Friday night.