PR opened it’s doors in 2013 and since then, we’ve had the opportunity to meet many enthusiastic and talented designers. Many are just excited about the idea of retailing; some it's the launch of a new label and the opportunity of sharing their design story and of course for many, the possibility of success.
We retail a range of local designers in store at PR, some established and senior some young and emerging.
We are all on a journey and a graduating designer is just at the beginning.
How do we share talent but also protect it?
In February 2019, we launched the PR Rising Star programme as a means of launching a debut designer.
We identify a designer who we feel stands out and offer him/her their first opportunity to retail.
Working from an existing collection, we offer them their own window display to visually express their design statement and their own retail rail.
The selected designer is expected to stay in touch with our sales team and learn from the feedback of customers trying on, showing interest in this new collection for the very first time.
The designer is expected to do all the alterations themselves. After this period, they could have the opportunity to move to the main rail, but it is no guarantee.
Our first PR Rising Star of 2021 is young 23 year old Sathya Karunarathne with her label Thurumpu, who just graduated from AOD in January with this collection.
Her collection caught our eye on social media, with a unique style of batik and expression of Sri Lankan craft in exciting dramatic silhouettes.
Sathya is inspired by Balenciaga and the oversized silhouettes, specifically a balloon dress by the Spanish luxury fashion house from the late 50s.
What excited us was her style of batik and motifs which she tells us were inspired by tarot cards and the human figure.
All the pieces in this capsule of couture are made from metres of the finest silk, with unique batik design and then hand embroidered.
2020, her last year of study was also the year the pandemic entered our lives.
“ Because of the pandemic, it was hard to complete the collection, but I still did it. More than 500 hours of work has gone into these pieces. Everything in this collection is hand made and this collection brought out the best in me. I never gave up. ”
The PR Rising Star programme offers our customers a chance to experience and purchase young Sri Lankan talent and also to forgive and appreciate some of the challenges, because the designer hasn't retailed before. It’s a relationship we nurture and something PR is very proud of.
How does Sathya feel about #Thurumpu being the first PR Rising Star of 2021 ?
“A dream of mine came true.” She says.
Shop Thurumpu online and in store.