Swim Week Colombo' to showcase region's first eco friendly swim wear

By APD Writer Jamila Husain

COLOMBO, June 28 (APD) - Sri Lanka's international swim wear fashion event, 'Colombo Swim Week 2017' which began on Wednesday, will showcase eco friendly latest designs in swim and beach wear, the organizers said.

(From left to right) Ramani Fernando - Ramani Fernando Salons, Priyantha Talwatte – Deputy General Manager, Consumer Banking, Nations Trust Bank, Shalindra Fernando – Chief Executive Officer, OLU Tropical Water, Ajai V. Singh – Founder and President, Colombo Fashion Week & Swim Week Colombo, Muditha Ferdinando – Chief Executive Officer, Linea Aqua, Shane Ingram – Director Operations, Hilton Colombo, Sheran Fernando – Director, SML Frontier Automotive (Pvt.) Ltd, Shiranee Yasaratne – Advisor, Biodiversity Sri Lanka

CEO of Swim Week Colombo, Fazeena Rajabdeen said that this year's Swim Week will create an eco-system of practices that not only enhances the environment but empowers individuals to adopt practices and methods that unburden the environment.

"Green Conscious and Earth Sensitive is the result of the need to become conscious of the actions towards development of fashion. So this year's Swim Week will showcase designs which are earth friendly and will not burden the environment in any way as fashion is responsible for causing pollution globally," Fazeena said.

A statement by Swim Week Colombo explained that globally, an estimated 17 to 20 percent of industrial water pollution comes from textile dyeing and treatment and an estimated 8,000 synthetic chemicals are used throughout the world to turn raw materials into textiles, many of which will be released into water sources.

Furthermore, it is not only the production of raw material that is water-intensive, the wet processing of clothing, such as washing and dyeing, also consumes high quantities of water; all being contributory factors in positioning the fashion industry as the second most polluting industry after oil.

Fazeena said this year designers have been encouraged towards creating more environmentally and ethically conscious designs as well as partnering with suppliers and manufacturers who hold the same environmental ethics.

This year's Colombo Swim Week will showcase designs from leading local and international designers and is the first eco-ethical fashion week in the region and a global first.

It aims to integrate an ecosystem approach to environmentally responsible fashion.

Ten Sri Lankan models and 21 international models will walk the ramp, modelling the designs.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)