Ruwanthi Gajadeera
Sri Lankan sustainable fashion designer
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Ruwanthi Gajadeera (Sinhala: රුවන්ති පවිත්රා ගජධීර, Tamil: ருவந்தி பவித்ரா கஜதீர; born 20 August 1996) is a Sri Lankan sustainable fashion and textile designer.[1] She is the first South Asian fashion designer to win the Taiwan Fashion Design Awards at 2021 Taipei Fashion Week SS22.[2][3][4][5][6] She has also represented Sri Lanka in a variety of other international competitions such as Redress Design Awards 2021, Hong Kong,[7] International Baltic Ethnic Fashion Festival 2021, Saint Petersburg[8] and Graduate Fashion Week 2021, London.[9][10]
Ruwanthi Gajadeera | |
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| රුවන්ති පවිත්රා ගජධීර ருவந்தி பவித்ரா கஜதீர | |
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| Born | 20 August 1996 Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Sri Lanka |
| Education | Northumbria University, University of Moratuwa, Ladies' College, Colombo |
| Occupation | Fashion designer |
| Years active | 2020-present |
| Label | kǣli |
Through her designs, she attempts to communicate the importance of the slow fashion movement.[11][10] She approached her aesthetic from the perspective by incorporating generational qualities of fashion and Buddhist philosophies.[11][10] Ruwanthi's garments have showcased a combination of heritage crafts[1] and high-tech techniques that express 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) in the complete garment lifecycle.[11][12][13] She states that to create circular garments, she employs zero-waste, up-cycling, reconstruction techniques.[14][10]
Early life and education
Ruwanthi was born in Colombo to a Buddhist family.[11] Ruwanthi spent her early childhood in Padiyathalawa, a town in Amapara.[11] Later on, she moved to Colombo and studied at Ladies' College, Colombo.[6] Upon completing her primary education she entered the University of Moratuwa to study landscape architecture,[11] but later she became more interested in fashion and textile design.[11] She dropped out of the University of Moratuwa and pursued her career in fashion design.[11]
Awards
- Fashion Design Newcomer Award - Taiwan Fashion Design Awards (2021).[1][15][16][17]
- First Prize in Eco Fashion - International Baltic Ethnic Fashion Festival (2021).[8]
- First Runner-Up - International Catwalk Award at Graduate Fashion Week (2021).[10][9]
- Semi-finalist - Redress Design Award (2021).[18][7]