Darshi Keerthisena reveals the capsule collection she showcased at Thai Silk International Fashion Week in Bangkok
Words: Tina Edward Gunawardhana
Photographs: Danush De Costa
Hot off the heels after taking part in CFW Luxury Edition 2022, batik designer and heir apparent to the Buddhi Batiks dynasty, Darshi Keerthisena took wing to Bangkok to showcase a special capsule collection at the Thai Silk International Fashion Week held at the Royal Paragon Hall at Siam Paragon in Thailand’s capital Bangkok.
Invited to take part in the show, Darshi had to work to a brief which stipulated that the fabric had to be at least 65% Thai silk. Darshi says “the fabric is given to the designer of each country by the Queen Mother Royal Thai silk project for the International Thai Silk Fashion Show. This is the 3rd International Thai Silk Fashion Week in honor of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, the Queen Mother’s 90th birth anniversary.”
For the last 3 years, due to COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions, the show was put on hold as international fashion designers could not travel to Thailand. With the ease of travel international fashion designers from more than 60 countries were invited to make a collection of traditional and contemporary outfits using Thai Silk fabric.
“Batik is a laborious and a challenging process” she says. “Batik has a scientific element to it, in the process, temperature and time matter hugely and we had to change the behavior of the fabric primarily through the boiling process” she adds.
Warming to the topic of the theme of her collection, Darshi says she named her collection “Rebirth”. Of her inspiration she says “I was inspired by the lotus, a significant flower for Sri Lankans and the national flower of Thailand. After the pandemic, we are in a new world and the lotus blooms through mud but comes out pure and strong.”
