Ruth Weerasinghe

Senior Designer - InQube Global

" When I was 15, I heard about the Fashion Design course and took part in one of the open days held at AOD in 2013. It was my dream to join AOD and complete my degree. I joined the Fashion Design and Marketing Degree program as I was interested in both the creative and marketing side of fashion from end to end, design to product, promotions, and marketing. I was very fortunate to have inspiring and extremely supportive lectures and gained many industry exposures throughout my time at AOD. Today I work as a Senior fashion designer at Inqube Global – (Innovation arm of Brandix) "

Education

De Montfort University - Master of Arts
Northumbria University - BA (Hons) Fashion & Textile Design
Lanka Institute of Fashion Technology - Foundation in Human Resource Management , Human Resources Management
National Institute of Business Management (NIBM) - Advanced Certificate in Human Resource Management, Human Resources Management, Advanced Diploma in Software Engineering , Computer Software Engineering, Foundation in Human Resource Management , Human Resources Management.

During my early years, I spent my holidays in Kurunegala, where my grandparents lived. From rivers to lakes and paddy fields, it was another world and I loved that experience. However, as I grew up I realised that the environment was rapidly changing. The rivers were drying out, the streams did not have fish anymore and the paddy fields could not yield harvest as they did before. Meanwhile, acid rains in different urban areas were reported, which made me think about the impacts of pollution on air, water, and land and look at ways on how environmental pollution impacted the planet and humans and their protection. This is when I merged sustainability, protection, longevity and explored the concept of using repurposed non-biodegradable, durable industrial synthetic waste and clothing waste to build an inspiring equation to explore the concept of take-make-reuse (upcycle, reconstruct) through design.

Honors & awards

Redress Design Award 2020 - Runner-up Prize Winner
AOD Valedictorian of Class of 2018
SDC Competition 2018 - Finalist
Volunteer - Sustainable Design Developer ( University of Cambridge )

Ruth’s work in sustainability was awarded in 2020 when she won the runner up for prize at the Redress Design Awards and with valuable mentorship from Orsola de Castro, Ruth has launched her own brand, SO4, with a focus on reusing, upcycling, and recycling waste creatively. SO4 was one of the eight emerging sustainable Redress Design Award alumni brands that were showcased at Shenzhen Fashion Week SS23. Supporting this win Ruth was also awarded an educational trip to London to meet leaders in sustainable fashion. Ruth has also shown at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Sri Lanka, and collaborated with The R Collective to design a backpack exclusively for UBS made from industrial waste including car airbags, tuk tuk covers, and tyre waste.