By Dimithri Wijesinghe
Photos Saman Abesiriwardana
Online fashion retailer Fashionmarket.lk launched on 19 March at Green Path its very own physical retail experience.
In this convenient, central location, the FMLK store houses its bestselling designer labels including Urban Drape sarees.
The store launch included a runway featuring new collections and the evoking of thought and discussion surrounding the idea of how fashion empowers people from makers to wearers, what makes a new Sri Lankan style movement, technology and design, the saree and Sri Lanka’s modern fashion culture, as well as the relevance of a locally-rooted contemporary men’s style movement.
Speaking to FMLK Founder Linda Speldewinde, she stated: “I like to think that I am a really super girl power supporter and I think I’ve used the brand a lot to convey the fact that fashion can empower women. I think this is really for the corporate girl and this physical store is about having an engagement point with that customer.”
She added: “She could be wearing a saree and so would a hundred other girls in the bank but with us, it’s about making her own identity with designs made in Sri Lanka. And knowing that it empowers someone in a village who helped make this, will elevate that saree for that corporate girl.”
FMLK’s brand philosophy “a new Sri Lankan style” was represented in many of the designs presented on the runway and within the space, capturing what they, and also Sri Lanka’s modern metropolitan sense, describe as “island cool” with a new East-meets-West aesthetic .
We spoke to FMLK CEO Harshi Alexander who provided that the brand works closely with AOD alumni; the designer brands featured at FMLK were created by mixes of young talent homegrown by the design school, working side by side with veterans in Sri Lankan textile design and village artisans in various crafts, also adding: “If you want something really Sri Lankan that yet aligns with the international market, then this is where you will find it.”
With the designs being totally homegrown, the FMLK collection is season-less and designed to work anywhere in the world from Colombo to New York. Even in its online presence has been embraced by consumers around the world.
The FMLK store is now open for shoppers to experience the clothes they see online on www.fashionmarket.lk, and elevate their consumer experience to a new level between the digital and physical worlds.
FMLK is now open for business at 50, Green Path, Colombo 3 from 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
Call: 0767 771 353
E-mail: customercare@fashionmarket.lk
