AOD Alumni Nathali Abayawadena to be featured on London Graduate Fashion Week’s international catwalk making it the fifth consecutive year for AOD talent to take on the runway As the world’s fashion elite prepares for London Graduate Fashion Week with high expectations of fresh young talent from around the world, AOD will yet again be taking homegrown fashion talent to new heights. 

Graduate Fashion Week is no stranger to Sri Lankan talent and the outstanding capabilities of AOD Graduates as it is the only Sri Lankan Design School to have been invited to show at this premier fashion platform since 2014. 

This year, AOD has nominated Nat h a l i Abayawardena, a talented young designer whose final year collection received great acclamation at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Sri Lanka 2017. This rare opportunity will have Nathali showcasing among the world’s finest fashion schools from Paris, New York and Milan and emerging fashion destinations. Graduate Fashion Week (GFW) is the world’s premier platform for recognising outstanding fresh designers in fashion and textile design and attracts a powerful audience of star-class designers, fashion editors, critics and global media. GFW is systemised through academic institutions around the world, and offers exclusive positions to be part its coveted runways only to the top rated fashion academia.

More information on London Graduate Fashion Week can be found on www.graduatefashionweek. com. AOD remains to be the only Lankan fashion educator at GFW, recognised as an institute leading a uniquely pioneering role in leading the fashion industry of the country to innovate beyond its time. As Sri Lanka continues the campaign to establish itself as a modern fashion destination complete with manufacturing strength, a unique heritage of inspiration and international standard design talent, it becomes important to turn the attention of global fashion towards the unfolding of our fashion scene’s latest developments and talent. Nathali is a fresh Graduate of AOD’s Fashion Design & Textiles department and her collection which is to be featured at GFW was first showcased at Mercedes- Benz Fashion Week Sri Lanka in 2017. 

Speaking on the inspiration behind the collection, Nathali stated, “I wanted to give a new perspective to idea of ‘minimal beauty through the hybrid of three dimensional pattern making and high t e chnolo g y. I was inspired by Scandinavian design traditions and that inspiration f rom mid-century Scandinavian furniture can be seen through the volumes of the garments, colors and the shapes of my collection.” Nathali, from the stage of concept generation, received the support of the academic faculty at AOD to streamline her ideas and go through the design process. The successful end result is evident in her collection where Nathali has combined high tech finishes including fabric lamination and state of the art seamless knitting, which was supported by MAS Holdings. As to what Nathali will be looking forward to the most at GFW, she states, “Experience and exposure.

As a Fashion designer, this is an amazing opportunity. The exposure I get and the experience of showcasing my collection in an international platform is invaluable”. This will be present Nathali with fantastic new opportunities to take her fashion career to the next level, supported by AOD as well as through international links presented by GFW. The recognition for AOD’s education at a platform like GFW marks a great instance of taking the Sri Lankan fashion industry’s young blood to the global scene powered with the same currency a UK graduate is equipped with and goes to speak for the quality and the comprehensiveness of UK design education that is being completed at AOD in Sri Lanka. The UK that is recognised as the world creative hub with a thriving creative industry that is delivering in creative and economic terms, is closely followed by Sri Lanka’s creative agenda as a model in its journey to become South Asia’s creative hub.

For more information on the fantastic opportunities provided by AOD or to learn more about studying Fashion, Fashion Marketing, Interior Design Studies, Visual Communication Design and Motion Graphics & Animation Design with 100%internal design degrees from Northumbria University UK, reach AOD on 0775727772, 011 5867772 email [email protected] or walk in between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday - AOD, 29, Lauries Road,