Behind the Front Row: KÛR Designer Reveals What It’s Like To Show At New York Fashion Week For The First Time

All photos by: @beccagbphoto — *All photos by:* **@beccagbphoto**

By: Emilie Moy

White lace, sleek hues, and oversized bows are some of the things you would have noticed walking through the KÛR's Spring/Summer 2018 presentation during New York Fashion Week. Kasuni Rathnasuriya is a New York based designer who launched her line KÛR back in 2009. But now, eight years later, this season was her first time debuting a collection at NYFW.

“I would say my inspiration is not just one thing, it’s more of a straight inspiration but then we have a lot of very contemporary ideas like embroideries and lace is so big for spring/summer,” Kasuni says.

Fashion week is typically a time when people are drawn to the over-the-top and marvel at the overtly strange looks, so it was a nice change of pace to see an entire collection that is so genuinely wearable. “This lace is something very unique, it’s handcrafted lace. It was introduced to us by Portuguese but made popular by Dutch in Sri Lanka, so it’s become very Sri Lankan and global. This lace is hand crafted and it takes a long time, it’s very delicate, very intricate, so that gives it a very unique look to the clothing,” Kasuni said.

When asked about how she get’s ready for a huge fashion debut like her very first Fashion Week she said,“Last minute it’s crazy, but our collection is done a couple of weeks before the show.” As you can imagine there are so many exciting parts about NYFW for designers showing their first shows, and to Kasuni her favorite aspect of it is the backstage. "Even though it’s a little intense, I like [it]. That’s where everything can happen. In New York, it’s the people that makes everything nice. I came from another part of the world and I love people and people love this. The connection is amazing.”