AOD Pivot For International Brands

The vibrantly coloured, discreetly patterned and beautifully crafted garments by C.h.a.r.l.e.n.e. has been all the rage in Colombo since the brand’s launch a few weeks back. What’s so great about C.h.a.r.l.e.n.e.? And how did it get there? Let’s hear it from ‘the Couturist’ behind the label, Ms. Charlene Thuring.
“I studied fashion at the Academy of design (AOD). Before the opportunity to study fashion at AOD, I was a girl with no dreams. Yes, I was artistic and yes, I was creative and extremely enthusiastic about colour and form. But I had no clue about how to make use it,” Thuring says, remembering the very beginning of her relationship with fashion.
“I loved studying fashion at AOD. My lecturers like Tiziano Picogna from Italy, Mrs. Damayanti and Dr. Asoka made it inspiring! I became this kid who had no clue as to what to do with my creativity, to a knowledgeable design buff!”
Thuring didn’t stop at her education at AOD. With her education as the basis for a career in fashion, she started gaining professional experience in fashion as a technical designer for Linea Aqua of MAS Holdings’.
“At Line Aqua I got the opportunity to work with the Victoria’s Secret Swim Design team themselves! I can’t explain how amazing the experience I gained working with the New York Swim Crew was! With that I took my experience/ further into my career and became a senior fashion designer.”
Thuring says that this work experience had a huge impact on forming C.h.a.r.l.e.n.e. with industrial standards.
“Designing takes a lot of effort, thought and special attention to detail; and this is what I learnt from AOD and Linea Aqua.
At Linea Aqua, I designed for high end brands such as Calvin Klein, Victoria’s secret, Eddie Bauer, Lands End, H&M and many more, and I know how much of care and attention we put into these beautiful designs that would never hit the markets of Sri Lanka. So, I wanted to bring that to our country.”
Thuring has big, yet palpable plans for the future of her brand-It’s all about intelligent fashion business. “I want to be able to design and construct every piece to especially suit the person who wears it.  That’s why I don’t have my designs in stores at the moment. I want to make the C.h.a.r.l.e.n.e.’s customers feel special and important; because they are! In the next few years I hope to make C.h.a.r.l.e.n.e.  international. Obviously by that I would have to manufacture in mass. And by then if I do succeed, then I would hope to have a store of my own in SL too.”
AOD’s principal, British fashion designer Ms. Karen MacLeod commented on Thuring‘s success and mentioned that AOD is extremely proud of  her and her accomplishment with the new brand. “Seeing our students go out there and do things that make Sri Lanka’s design sphere alive, inspiring and interesting, is the highest form of compliment we receive as a design campus”, said MacLeod.