Sri Lanka & The Sarong

You Are What You Wear

Change is afoot in Sri Lanka. There’s a shift in our cultural identity here due to the growing participation in the global community.

In San Francisco, where Asanka del Mel has been living most recently, the positive spirit in the zeitgeist is all consuming. The air is thick with innovation. Asanka is excited. “It’s the biggest leap of mankind since the industrial revolution, all around the world right now,” he says.

What’s truly inspiring for Asanka is seeing evidence of it here in Sri Lanka. “The desire to be part of the global community is undeniable,” he says. We see a booming start up scene, active engagement on social networks, and a wild demand that products and services be world-class. Most exciting to Asanka is finding Sri Lanka’s new generation engaging in a similar global experience, just like everyone around the world. “Whether that’s Sydney, San Francisco, Delhi, or here in Colombo, the new generation is one of optimism, abundance, and excitement.”

While internet technology makes our world smaller, more connected, and permeates through all realms of our lives, this new generation is seeking personal identity. “We [Sri Lankans] are seeking a way to define ourselves within that new global ecosystem. We’ve got choices. Will our new post-war culture be an inclusive melting pot?” Our daily costume tells a story about where and what we come from.

“We [Sri Lankans] are seeking a way to define ourselves within that new global ecosystem. We’ve got choices. Will our new post-war culture be an inclusive melting pot?”

LOVI is an opportunity to create something inclusive and the chance to make a statement for Sri Lanka within this new world context. It’s a garment that is made for everyone independent of religion, financial standing, age, size, or girth of belly—it’s ideal for any citizen of the world.

Looking to the future, Asanka plans to expand to include fabrics from all over the globe, and to open the market to an international audience including sarong lovers living abroad, like himself.

Will the discerning youth of today identify with sarong culture, which their Asian grandfathers and great grandfathers wore with such ease and grace? De Mel is confident they will. “In our increasingly globalized community, the sarong is a fun way to shout out to the world ‘hey, this is where I’m from!’”

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