Sri Lanka’s favourite teen magazine Chokolaate will for the seventh consecutive time present its signature Mother daughter Fashion Designer Contest in May this year. In collaboration with Ponds Chokolaate MDFD 2016 will see 16 talented young designers showcase their casualwear, eveningwear and sportswear modeled by real mothers and daughters.

The preliminary rounds of the competition saw many young talented designers submit their portfolios. After stringent judging by an eminent panel of judges 16 finalists were selected for the grand finale which will be held at the Sri Lanka Exhibition and Convention Centre on May 28^th 2016.

Twenty two year old Arunesh is a product of Asoka Vidyalaya in Kandy and one of the 3 male designers in the final. Currently studying at NSBM as well as AACS, he also works for an event management company. The inspiration and theme behind his designs is from the colors and the overall beauty of dragonfly wings.

Kalzana Fernando is a twenty one year old who enjoys listening to music, sketching and hanging out with her friends. Having studied atLadies College Kalzanais currently studying at the Academy of Multimedia Design and Technology. The inspiration and the theme behind her designs that will be showcased at the competition come from the patterns and colors incorporated in traditional devil masks.

NisansalaSamarakoon is a twenty five year old and a past pupil of the Pinnawala Central College. Since completing her school years, she has studied at the Department of Integrated Design and is also a student of the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Moratuwa. The theme of Nisansala’s designs revolve around the three segments where she has paired the sports designs with power, evening wear with the beauty of waterfalls and the casual designs with the beauty of butterflies.

Sixteen year old Milani Lawrence studies at Methodist College and is one of the youngest competitors.Inspiration for her designs comes through an interesting topic of the television advertisements and the chaos that surrounds Valentine’s Day. The designs were created with the theme of dark romance in mind so the collection consists of a lot of gothic style.

Manaharie Pitigala is a twenty year old from Musaeus College who is currently studying at the Asian Academy of Commercial Studies. A Japanese food enthusiast, Manaharie has gathered inspiration for her designs through the shapes, textures and the colors of seashells.

Rashfa Arshad, a twenty four year old studying at the Asian Academy of Commercial Studies, he will showcase designs inspired by the colors and beauty of the vulturine guinea fowl. The vulturine guinea fowl is a beautiful bird with colors such as cobalt blue, black and white incorporated in its plumage.

Sajini Hulugalle is twenty eight years old and studies at the National Institute of Fashion Technology. The concept of Sajini’s designs revolves around the beauty of the butterfly and the changes it has gone through to reach the final stage and blossom into a beautiful creature. She has drawn inspiration for her designs through the structure and the beauty of the monarch butterfly.

Another 16 year old in the competition is Viranda Bandara who studies at Gateway College and will be sitting for her O/Ls in the same month as the fashion show. Inspired by the 1950s Golden era of fashion Viranda’s collection will be sure to dazzle.

Devindi Abeydeera Gunarathne another competitor from Museus College is not only a fashion designer but also a passionate singer and a song writer. Devindi is currently studying fashion designing at University of Moratuwa. Her inspiration is drawn from the TV series 7^th Heaven.

Sithsara Nidushani Danthanarayana is a twenty three year old from the University of Colombo where she is currently studying International Relations. Gathering inspiration from her grandmother’s love for gardening her designs will showcase roses and a mother’s love.

Anushka Perera another talented and inspired designerfrom the Academy of Multimedia and design will showcase her work based on beautiful night sky.

Twenty seven years old ErangaWickramasighe who returns to the competition for the second time this year is a veteran in the fashion designing arena. Eranga’s designs this time will be inspired mother nature which includes forests, flowers and leave.

The third male finalist in this year’s competition is Isham Nazar who is 18 years of age. Isham currently works as a nail technician at the Nail Spa at Cinnamon Lakeside and found his inspiration from cartoons and the Victoria secret fashion show.

Amasha Kulasuriya is another talented competitor from Kandy. She is currently studying for her Bachelors of Fashion Design and Product Development at the Open University. She found her inspiration from the sea and her theme for the competition would be under water sea life.

Aishath Najwa is a twenty seven year old young designer who is currently studying at Raffles Design Institute. This beautiful young designer’s theme would the night sky and the starry night painting by Vincent Van Gogh.

Last but certainly not least is Adlah Azad who is 18 years of age and seeks to bring out a new design and inspire many other young designers. Her theme for the 2016 competition is Egyptian allure.

This year the show has drawn a host of sponsors, with the title sponsor being Ponds who have been a great supporter of the show in the past. Co- Sponsors include Coats Thread Lanka, Triumph and AMDT while Segment Sponsors are LICC Jeans, Elephant House Ice Cream, George Stuart Pharmaceuticals and Heart Rislet. The Official Hotel and Caterer for the event is the Mount Lavinia Hotel, Official Beverage is Coca Cola, Official Radio Kiss FM, Official Television partner ART TV, Official Airline Sri Lankan Airlines, Official Photographer Praveen Mirando, Official Videographer Radicalz, Official Hair & Make-Up Salon Chrissy’s,  Official Choreographer Brian Kerkoven, Official Florist Second Chance Flowers, Official Online Media Revolution Portfolio & Gayani Batz Media Crew, Digital Community Partner Happy SL, Official MC Kumar De Silva, and the official PR Partner for the event will be Nehemiah Consultants. Mini Titles will be sponsored by VLCC while Jet Airways and You Travels will provide gifts for the winners.