Northumbria University, University of Moratuwa, Ladies' College, Colombo
Occupation
Textile designer
Fashion designer
Years active
2020-present
Label(s)
kǣli
Ruwanthi Gajadeera (born 20 August 1996) is a Sri Lankan sustainable fashion and textile designer.[1] She is the first South Asia 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 London Fashion Week.[9][10]
Through her designs, she attempts to communicate the importance of the slow fashion movement.[11][10] She approached her Aesthetics from the perspective by incorporating Heirloom of fashion and Buddhism.[11][10] Ruwanthi's garments have showcased a combination of Handicraft[12] and Digital fashion that express Waste hierarchy (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) in the complete garment Product lifecycle.[11][13][14] She states that to create Circular economy|circular garments, she employs Zero-waste fashion, upcycling, reconstruction techniques.[15][10]
Ruwanthi was born at the Sri Jayawardenepura General Hospital in Colombo to a Buddhist family.[11] Ruwanthi spent her early childhood in Padiyathalawa, a town in Ampara District.[11] Later on, she moved to Colombo and studied at Ladies' College, Colombo [6] upon completing the primary education she was selected for the University of Moratuwa to study Landscape architecture,[11] however, later on she realized that her passion is for fashion and textile design.[11] Afterwards, she dropped out of the University of Moratuwa and pursued her career in fashion design.[11]
↑Taiwan Textile Federation (2021-10-06). "The Winner of the First Prize of 2021 Taiwan Fashion Design Award Gajadeera, Ruwanthi Pavithra, whose Works Perfectly Reflect the Concepts of Sustainability and Design Creativity". Available online:https://www.textiles.org.tw/TTF/main/news/wHandNews_File.ashx?type=2&news_id=12112. Retrieved 2021-11-07.