Second Generation Fashion Designers – Taking Forth their Family’s Legendary Skills

Some say talent is inborn and some say skills come with experience. We have witnessed some noteworthy designers showcasing their skills to this world where they have built their passions merely out of hard work and by pouring unending efforts into it, they transformed their interests into careers. Gaining clients from all walks of life, these designers have contributed immensely to the community, all thanks to their extraordinary skills. Now, time has taken us forward and we see great legends passing over their businesses to their heirs. Yes – We are talking about their children who have grown up observing the art of designing through their remarkable parents who have left a mark in the industry. Running through their blood, these descendants carry on the ability to preserve their traditional family business, making it much better by lifting it up to stand out with designs that would suit the current generation. Here we have some noteworthy fashion designers whom have taken over their family businesses to the next level. Peek into the next few pages to know the full details!

Pubudu Jayarathna – P.V.S Jayarathna

P.V.S Jayarathna, a renowned designer recognized for his unfailing skills and talent in the fashion field, was a man with a vision. He aspired to take forth and preserve the significance of the Kandyan Nilame costume for grooms and his designing was yet another aptitude that always gave away a wow-factor to the people who were interested in getting their wedding costumes done by him. Fast-forward to the present and now, his son, Pubudu Jayarathna leads the business. In short, Pubudu had the honour of schooling at Kingswood College at Kandy and graduated from University of Plymouth, England with flying colours in Bsc. Hons. in Accounting and Finance. While juggling with studies, he was already involved in his father’s business from the age of 16! Pubudu takes a keen interest in designing traditional costumes - just like his father, as well as collecting and safe-guarding antique dresses, jewelleries and equipment that are related to the Kandyan history.

His father was a man full of expertise when it came to Kandyan costumes and with his experience, guidance and advises, he enlightened his son about the processes of his business. Pubudu was able to bring in a higher level of brilliant knowledge together with new technology that can be used to improve their designing. He states that no matter what type of people he has to engage with, his father has given him enough wisdom to know how to handle interaction with others. He adds that his team-working skills have been polished during his years at university and this gives him better ability to run the business smoothly and manage their employees well. 

With Pubudu’s parents starting up this business with only the remarkable ability of designing and knowledge about customs, he has been able to up the game of traditions by injecting contemporary fashion designing and new technology. He mentions that he looks forward to improving the business sooner or later as he is still pursuing his studies in the field of fashion.

Fashion is a tricky player. Designs keep changing and evolving constantly. Thus, the major challenge for these astounding designers is to protect the tradition of Kandyan costumes in midst of the ever-changing trends the fashion industry bombards us with. In Pubudu’s view, the way we dress tends to be a social choice that is shaped by the behaviour of those around us. And he adds that technology increases expression and that P.V.S Jayarathna thrives to stay in tune with these growing trends while preserving tradition. For them, it’s more about improving the traditional attire designs without damaging its historical importance. 

Anuththara Weerasekara – Super Fit

Originated from a single idea and passion for fashion back in the late 70s, Superfit was brought to life by Maya Pedris. Over the years, Superfit expanded into a fashion design studio situated in Colombo, providing employment to young and talented ladies with skills in sewing, embroidery and many more. Sharing the same passion as her mother, Anuththara joined the business in 2012, upon completion of her fashion designing degree from Academy of Design – Northumbria University, bringing a whole new life and perspective to Superfit with her design and creative capabilities. Thus, Maya and Anuththara – Superfit came into the picture.

Anuththara says she loved to travel and aspired to be a pilot as a child. However, growing up in a fashion-oriented background, her passion for fashion overtook her dreams of being a pilot. In her view, her greatest achievement would be every single time she sees a bride’s face lighting up with happiness and seeing that happy grin on their face when they see their dream attire! And to know that she is the reason behind it – it makes her more pleased. She states that there is nothing better than the joy she gets when somebody appreciates and loves her work. When questioned about the first time she felt like joining her mother in her designing, Anuththara says that she has always been passionate with the work her mother did since her younger days. Growing up witnessing how her mother passionately worked on her designing, Anuththara says she always wanted to grow as a personality in the same field. The best part of taking over her mother’s business? Well, Anuththara proclaims that her mother was a creative person in her time and still is. And by following her footsteps, she was able to incorporate her own unique skills into her mother’s creative touch. This enabled them to bring newer designs to life and this, in her opinion, was the best part of taking over. 

Maya has been working with her own knowledge and experience, and since Anuththara has studied further about fashion she has been able to contribute by telling a story to the world in her own unique way through her creations and by giving the business more value to it by adding the concept of design. Maya’s experience and knowledge differs from Anuththara’s. Maya was mostly about dressmaking while her daughter added the designing concept to it. Thus, this brought a great partnership between the mother and daughter duo. 

No business comes without hurdles. And this is exactly what Anuththara says. In any business, especially a growing one, there are many challenges to stand out in the environment but what matters is not to lose the essence and core of the business. For Anuththara, it’s more about what her client/bride prefers. It may be just another bride for all of them in the industry, but for the brides – it’s their big day! They spend months of planning, and invest immense effort for their wedding days. So despite any cost, she focuses on bringing a smile to the brides’ faces while making sure that she caters to what exactly they require. 

Fashion is cyclical, and there is nothing surprising in it! Nevertheless, every year there are very original and unusual styles of clothing coming up with a delicate touch of catchy embroidery, floristic, animal and geometric prints, and decoration in the form of fringe, lace and minimalistic patterns. Anuththara puts forth that it’s not the trend or fashion which is the most important, but it’s the style which lives within. So, she gives a line of advice to aspiring designers saying “Focus on what you do and don’t get lost in what other people do. Simplicity is the keynote of all time elegance.”

Kanushka – ABBA / Kanush Sooriyabandara

Bringing to life back in 1989 at a not-so-rural village called Dibbedda in Panadura, Rajitha Sooriyabandara was a respectable tailor full of creativity and skills who mastered the art of designing and tailoring bespoke attires for men in the village. Rajitha was much proficient in the field of men’s wear fashion and brought out astounding designs that were merely formulated in his mind with his limitless imaginary and then delivered them out as a real product. He was not only an artistic tailor but also an ideal father to a brilliant son who grew up witnessing the assiduous work of his father, all full of commitment and dedication towards the job at hand. This diligent father educated this son with ample knowledge regarding the business at a very early age, starting from his childhood. Although Kanushka had a profound interest towards IT at the period of the newly introduced computers, he knew he had to one day take over his father’s business as his mind was always fed with the thought that he was the ultimate heir to the business who would be taking the venture to the next level. Yet, Rajitha was determined to provide every inch of education affordable to his son before he was eligible to take over the business. Initially studying at Sri Sumangala College Panadura, he was then moved to an International school by his father to make him fluent with the language of English. 

After his O/Ls, he immediately pursued higher education in 2008 at American National College. He moved to New York in order to complete his Bachelor’s Degree and returned to Sri Lanka in 2012. This is when Abba welcomed its new owner with open hands. Having completed the Bachelor’s Degree at the age of 21, Kanushka was among the ones who shined bright as he completed his degree at a very tender age. And not just that, he also an MBA graduate from University of Moratuwa in the field of Management of Technology by the age of 24! He even laughs at the thought of having colleagues who were his father’s age! By being done with his higher education at a very early age, Kanushka was able to get fully involved with his business by pouring in more of his time. 

When asked what additions he was able to make to the existing business, he tells us how his IT knowledge came to help. When the business was being run by his industrious father, every bit of work was done manually. Well, this gives us a look into how businesses those days were run, doesn’t it? The business was in a situation to expand itself to many outlets, yet they were held back due to the need of massive manual work. However, Kanushka stepped into the company and changed the whole game with his ardent skills. He even created their own ERP system to handle the business much better and brought in technology to the company that was only stuck to manual work. However, he was faced with a major challenge when transforming the processes of the workplace. The workers! He says, there were many workers who were as old as the company registration. They were all used to manual processes of work in all aspects. This made them reluctant to the change and they were not familiar with the use of IT. Thus, radical change was not an option. In many instances, he consulted his father on how these changes can be made and how to overcome this challenge. From the time, Kanushka stepped in and till now, he had to make changes slowly and it took 5 years to make Abba what it is now. 

With the business starting off with the impression of a tailor who takes measurements with a tape around his neck, to a leading designer wear brand, Abba has completely evolved as a business. At the beginning of the business, Abba was registered as a tailoring business in people’s minds and now, they are among the go-to options when it comes to unique men’s wear. And Kanushka was highly successful in differentiating his business from a tailor to a designer. To make his outfits more outstanding and one-of-a-kind, he even collaborates with fabric providers in Italy, Milan and London. And their approach to handling fashion-conscious grooms? Well, they invest a lot of time into bringing out that unique, luxurious piece to life. Usually, a groom’s outfit has to blend in with the wedding decorations and the bridal outfit, thus this requires more work and brainstorming. They leave their grooms utterly speechless by offering the most bespoke of services.

Fashion has always been evolving, but in Kanushka’s words, the classic designs just keep repeating after decades and creates a fad as the latest trend. There was a time when black was the only option for grooms wear. However, now fashion has brainwashed the fashion-savvy into picking more accents of colours for their weddings and this will keep repeating in a cycle. When asked what’s his advice to someone who dreams of being a fashion designer, he comments that aspiring young designers should make it into a design school because that’s where their starting point will be. And it will help them unfold what their future awaits. And on top of that, in order to make it big in the fashion world, one should try to make it into the international fashion world, because limiting it to the nation will cut down the opportunities. 

Kanushka has taken another step in developing his label and has rebranded Abba has Kanush Sooriyabandara which now offers a wide variety of bridal frocks and lehengas for brides. The first outlet after rebranding has been opened in Negombo as a huge demand for bridal wear exists in that expanse. Kanushka has also planned out to bring in branded suiting fabrics for men’s wear from Italy and UK. Hopefully, the next flagship store for Kanush Sooriyabandara will welcome its clients in Nugegoda in the recent future. The outlet in Negambo also provides free consultation with the designer to clarify their designing needs.