Colombo Fashion Week ‘Celebrates Colombo’ with Sri Lanka Tourism
Colombo Fashion Week (CFW) presents ‘Celebrate Colombo’ in association with Sri Lanka Tourism, which will keep evolving with every Fashion Week as a product to attract tourists to visit Colombo during this time. ‘Celebrate Colombo’ aims to showcase Colombo as a must-visit destination that buzzes with activities and experiences during Fashion Week. This is the first year CFW introduces ‘Celebrate Colombo’, a unique project that will evolve to include more with every edition of CFW.
“Sri Lanka Tourism needs to develop new products to fulfill the changing needs of the global traveller if we are to be relevant in the entrenched competitive arena. We at Sri Lanka Tourism are testing this new project, ‘Celebrate Colombo’, which is tied up to six key restaurants and two locations in Colombo,” says Rohantha Athukorala, Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism. “Based on the project’s success, we will do a focused international launch at ‘Celebrate Galle’ under the brand umbrella of CFW.”
The HSBC CFW Spring/Summer 2015 Season was officially launched with Fashion+Food, a designed dining experience with seven restaurants in Colombo creating special fashion-themed menus for the week. Within the Fashion Village, hosted at the Hilton Colombo Poolside, Il Ponte served as the Fashion Café and Fashion Bar, offering an innovative range of bento boxes, an a la carte menu and fashion lifestyle-themed beverages. CFW’s partnering restaurants offered six limited edition menus; an eclectic, contemporary menu influenced by McQ by Alexander McQueen by Asylum; rich, gourmet courses that pay homage to styles that have withstood the test of time by Chesa Swiss; luxe neo-romantic food inspired by Parisian couture and Christian Dior by Café Francais; a fusion of both the Paradise Road design identity and timeless fashion by Tintagel; sophisticated fusion fare embodying design ethos of Ralph Lauren by Clique Cuisine; and light, low-GI plates that encapsulate Runway Diet by Nihonbashi.
“We are very excited to introduce ‘Celebrate Colombo’, a project that will showcase Colombo and the myriad experiences it has to offer, to attract visitors to the city,” says Ajai Vir Singh, President, CFW.
‘Celebrate Colombo’ also highlighted two iconic locations in Colombo; the Beira Lake, on the banks of which CFW created a Fashion Village, and the Old Colombo Dutch Hospital as two places to visit and experience in the city, in addition to Fashion+Food. Located in the heart of Colombo, the picturesque Beira Lake is surrounded by many important businesses and luxury hotels and is recreational area with interesting flora and fauna. A reflection of 17th Century Dutch colonial architecture, the Old Colombo Dutch Hospital is considered the oldest building in the Colombo Fort area. Formerly a hospital built to treat Dutch seafarers, it has today been restored to serve as a heritage building and an upscale restaurant and shopping precinct.
By creating a citywide hype during CFW, ‘Celebrate Colombo’ will instigate Fashion Week attendees and tourists to explore Colombo and enjoy the sights and experiences it offers, and will grow each year alongside CFW to showcase Colombo as an extraordinary destination.
