The influence of nature over fashion is monumental. In this feature, we seek to shed light on fashion designer Jaishree Parathalingam Jayesingha’s longstanding romance with the natural world by exploring her past and present collections of fashion design, namely that of Jai & Sea Sand.

Jaishree began her professional journey through Aashkii in 2008, a fashion boutique house that delivers the sensual fusion of western glamour interspersed with ethnic elegance. Her entry into the industry as a professional designer was in 2012, when she decided to transform her own ideas onto fabric. Since then, the designer received much acclaim for her creations having been a part of Colombo Fashion Week and Swim Week Colombo since 2016 to date. Recently, Jaishree was recognized as a prolific exemplar of the industry when the Export Development Board invited her to showcase at the Hong Kong Fashion Week in July 2018, with selected pieces from her Jai Collection.

We found Jaishree’s present and past collections of fashion design emerge as a visual narrative that explore the elements of nature; earth, water, air and fire. The designer’s works intricately surveys the elements of nature through symbols, motifs, use of colour as well as creative processes emanating an intriguing narrative of deep compatibility and oneness with nature. When studying Jaishree’s designs, it is evident that flowers dominate her visual narrative on fabric, that induce a sense of the ethereal to her designs. The frangipani is her signature flower of which its combinational hues of yellow, fuschia and white are transformed and manipulated onto fabric with distinctive extravagance. She states “I also love to play with orchids and roses as I enjoy shading them in bright colors”. Jaishree further states that she experiments with abstract floral imagery as she is of the opinion that it gives a unique blend of attraction to her designs. The representation of wildflowers can be recognized as one of the most prominent motifs of vibrancy, a foremost characteristic of the Jai collection. “I do not create a collection without using colour” she states.

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