Chatham Luxury hosts reception for Olympians

The Federation of Asian Master Tailors has recognised the work of a Sri Lankan master tailor, Chaandana Wijesekera, for his contributions to bespoke tailoring in the country as well as in the region and conferred a rare honour on him.

The industry organisation, which includes all major customtailoring associations in Asia, conferred the Golden Scissor award on Wijesekera who heads Bristol Tailors, a family-owned old established tailoring house in Sri Lanka.

Wijesekera was also given a lifetime achievement award at the just concluded 26th congress of the Federation during a five-day session at the Sunee Grand Hotel and Convention Centre in Ubon, Thailand.

The Sri Lanka Master Tailors’ Association received membership of the Asian Federation of Master Tailors (AFMT) during the leadership of Wijesekera in 1998. Since then, Sri Lankan members have regularly attended annual sessions of the federation to share their experiences.

In 2013, Wijesekera secured Sri Lanka’s membership of the World Federation of Master Tailors too. He has also been a judge of annual tailoring competitions of the Federation. He has conducted lectures for students at the Vocational Training Authority of Sri Lanka.

At this year’s congress in Thailand, Sri Lanka was represented by Wijesekera as well as SLMTA President Lakshman Guruge (Pettah Tailors, Dalugama) and treasurer Thikshana Udagedara (Linton Tailors, Kandy).

All eyes are on Rio as the Olympics unfolds. Shortly before their departure, the Sri Lankan Olympic squad were hosted to dinner by Chatham Luxury, the official representative for Omega watches in Sri Lanka. Omega is the Official Timekeeper of the 2016 Olympic Games.

The directors of Chatham Luxury were present at the formal dinner held at Hilton Colombo Residencies along with Brazilian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Elizabeth-Sophie Mazzella di Bosco Balsa, Embassy officials and senior members of the National Olympic Committee.