Design projectAK 1248 Master of Design

AK 1248 Master of Design
Paper Code – 119202
Level 9
Paper Leader – Leong Yap
Navoda Thenuwara
Student No – 1255762
AUT University

NUWARU: The design and analysis of
an entrepreneurial strategy
benefiting Sri Lankan communities
through the development of
Fair Trade fashion artifacts
inspired by
Kandayn Dance

Table of content –
Abstract 4
1.0 Introduction 5
2.0 Context of the project NUWARU 7
2.1 Project inspiration – Kandyan Dancing 8
2.2 Kandyan Dance Community – the struggle for sustaining the culture
& life 10
3.0 The Design Proposal
3.1 The idea and proposition of the project 12
3.2 Issues surrounding bringing Kandyan Dance inspired artifacts
to the fashion market 15
3.3 Fair Trade Arena 17
3.4 The Value Creation Model 18
4.0 Methodology
4.1 Methodology overview 25
4.2 Research Methods 29
4.3 Expert Interview Findings 31
4.4 The Design Process 36
4.5 The design developments 38
5.0 NUWARU Entrepreneurial Strategy 44
5.1 Challenges and Unknowns 45
5.2 Sustainability 47
5.3 Branding 49
5.4 The four pleasures 50
5.5 Target Audience of the brand NUWARU 51
5.6 Business canvas 52
5.7 Offerings to the customers 53
6.0 Evaluation of the design 56
7.0 Significant Findings 59
8.0 Conclusion 60
9.0 References 61
10.0 Appendix 64

Abstract-
This project is focused on the design and analysis of an entrepreneurial
strategy benefiting Sri Lankan communities through the development of fair
trade fashion inspired by Kandyan Dance. This is comprised of contemporary
apparel, accessories and souvenirs through the fusion of rich traditional
craftsmanship by capturing the ritual aspects, glamour, color, textures, and
traditions of the dance. The key concern is the lack of global exposure and
awareness of Sri Lankan Kandyan Dance. Therefore the project is seeking to
facilitate the unveiling of Kandyan dancing values and glamour to the world
while empowering the Kandyan community using fair trade arena without
disrupting their culture by setting up a cottage industry business model where
local traditional technologies can be harnessed.
An interdisciplinary approach and analysis has been used to develop value
added fashion artifacts hence the data for the project has been gathered from
expert interviews and observations and designs will be promoted to the world
through current 2D and 3D mediums and technologies. The Project aspires to
extend with vast and ample ambitions of “Ethnic & economical Revival” of Sri
Lanka while setting up a “Sri Lankan fashion icon” within the global market.
Key words:
Kandyan dance, Inspirations, Fashion artifacts, Cottage business, Technology

1.0 Introduction –
“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in
the street; fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.”
― Coco Chanel
When the course Master of Design started in March 2013 with associated
research, aimed at developing innovative and strategic leadership for the
design and business environment we all had to decide on a project idea which
could build up throughout the year. My everlasting dream of setting up a
fashion business inspired by Sri Lankan values became my choice.
Sri Lanka is a land of colorful traditions, fascinating legends and rich cultural
heritage and the Kandyan dancing is highlighted among all of them. Kandyan
dancing highlights the early culture of the country, the skills & talents of the
Kandyan ethnic group in many different fields such as designing, manufacture
and crafting.
However, the key concern of Sri Lankan Kandyan Dance is the lack of global
exposure and awareness and confined to Sri Lanka without unveiling its value
and the glamour to the world. The unfortunate truth is, this art form is fading
away throughout the modern period due to the issues faced during the
industrialization, cultural transitions, physical, social, political and economic
changes in this modern era.
The project has looked at the problem in an interdisciplinary approach.
Different design methods such as brainstorming, prototyping and in the same
manner, through human centered design the research methods include expert
interviews, observations have been used to develop a unique fashion brand
that is sought after by customer around the world via ethnographical and
phenomenological methodologies. Aspects ranging from rituals, implications,
glamour, color, textures and traditions of dance will be thoroughly analyzed in
the project to create an authentic cultural fashion artifact range. This would
includes clothing, accessories and souvenirs inspired by Kandyan Dancing
using rich traditional craftsmanship and those products always will be fair
traded by the Kandyan ethnic group.
In this stage only few artifacts has been prototyped and photos of the designs
are presenting as a portfolio. Also a mock up Facebook page and web site
has been designed by which the project concept and designs can be
circulated through the social media by harnessing the web 2.0 with 2D & 3D
technologies. The project will be aimed to create a meaningful, haptic & a
different cultural experience to the public while revealing the Kandyan dance
and its cultural harmony to the world. The ultimate goal of this exercise is to

establish a fashion label & a cottage industry that will be beneficial to both the
local community and the fashion world.
The project directed towards the design led business while upholding the
business sustainability that strives to meet the triple bottom line. The building
entrepreneurial strategy, customer experience, as well as creating a positive
business perception will be discussed within the project clusters division of the
essay. Also the integrative design thinking, cultural authenticity,
entrepreneurial exploitation, value and creative destruction etc have been
analyzed under different sections of my essay.
My seriousness of fashion design thinking now have been converted to an
entrepreneurship as well as a fair trade fashion label exploring new areas of
meaningful and contemporary ethnic fair trade fashion collection called
“NUWARU" which means the people of the kingdom in Sinhala language. The
enthusiasm of introducing new designs to a fashion world and aptitude to
being a part of ethnic revival of Sri Lanka has led me to the forward during the
project construction process.
The passion and the pride of revealing the Kandyan dance to the world while
benefiting the people though fashion has been strengthened by research
“What are the factors that need to be considered to build a successful
entrepreneurial strategy for fair trade fashion products inspired by
Kandyan Dance?
Therefore, as a Sri Lankan it is a great pleasure to develop an innovative fair
trade fashion artifact label and set up a “Sri Lankan fashion icon” within the
global market that could crown me with national pride.

2.0 Context of the project
NUWARU

2.1 Project Inspiration – Kandyan Dancing
We say that we are inspired by something or all want to be inspired. What
does inspiration mean or what is inspiration exactly? There are several
definitions, however, the overall idea is, inspiration is being in a state of mind
where the generated idea is possible, everything is clear, and feels conceit
about the thought. Mainly the word “inspiration” comes up in the creative
realms such as art, film, fashion etc and many people wonder where creative
people find their good ideas
Finding good idea as an inspiration throughout the life experience means
aligning our heart and mind with the unlimited abundance of life, and
deliberately focuses on the possibilities that surround us. By proving the
quotation of Berezowsk, Olympian & inspirational speaker, “Inspiration is the
Key to Success” among several inspirations and new artifacts, our motherland
Sri Lanka lighted up in my mind than anything else.
Sri Lanka is a land of colorful traditions, fascinating legends and rich cultural
heritage. Also arts of Sri Lanka have achieved great heights during the
itinerary of history. All the Sri Lankan art forms like dance, music, architecture,
sculpture, paintings etc. have achieved a grand development by the influence
of Buddhism as well as the impact of Indian culture. While excavating what‟s
the most vital legacy of Sri Lanka there are several unique custom pop out
and the Kandyan dancing is highlighted among all of them.
Kandyan Dance is a dance form that originated in the area called Kandy of
the Central hills state in the ancient Sri Lankan kingdom. According to a
Sinhalese legend, Kandyan dances originated 2500 years ago, from a magic
ritual that broke the spell on a bewitched king.
It was originally performed by dancers who were identified as a separate
caste under the Kandyan empire system. They were aligned with the “Sri
Dalada Maligawa” (Temple of the Tooth) and had a significant role to play in
the “Dalada Perahera”, the procession which is held every year by the temple
and Sri Lankans believe that the ritual gives them physical and mental
strength, prosperity and warded off diseases, fear of evil spirit and bring the
faith and fortune to their lives.
Image credit: Eranda Ekanayake, Sri Lanka

Nowadays it is considered as the national dance of Sri Lanka as well as the
Sri Lanka's primary cultural export in tourism.
The inspiration of the project, Kandyan dancing of Sri Lanka also highlights
the early culture of the country. There are five dancing types call “Ves”,
Naiyandi dance, Uddekki dance, Pantheru dance and Vannam. The dancers
wear elegant costumes, headdress and metallic rattles for ankles according to
the dance types. Different types of drums are also used along with tools which
are designed, manufactured and crafted by the artisans‟ themselves.
Therefore the dancing tradition always performs as a paradigm and folklore of
Sri Lanka's miraculous culture, the skills & talents of the Kandyan ethnic
group in many different fields.
Therefore they are highly knowledgeable in textile weaving, textile dying by
natural dyes, batik, knitting, bead work, embellishment, embroidery, metal
jewellery crafting, leather work, traditional unique techniques call “laksha”,
pottery making etc.
But the unfortunate truth about the traditional Kandyan dancing in modern Sri
Lanka is that it is facing gradual decline and modernizations. Mostly Kandyan
dancers think they have been cornered from the society and have been
forgotten their value. Young people also leave their cultural life and migrate to
find more money. Therefore this can affect Sri Lankan and its cultural
authenticity in many ways.
“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like
a tree without roots” – Marcus Garvey
Image Credit: Indaranatha Thenuwara, Sri Lanka

2.2 Kandyan Dance Community – the struggle for sustaining
the culture & life
A clearly specified list of problems is the most suitable basis for identifying the
potential solution and in this chapter the project will look at the one side of the
problem which the entrepreneurial strategy will face when it‟s functioning.
The key concern of Sri Lankan Kandyan Dance is the lack of global exposure
and awareness and confined to Sri Lanka without unveiling its value and the
glamour to the world. The unfortunate truth is, this art form is fading away
throughout the modern period due to the issues faced during the
industrialization, cultural transitions, physical, social, political and economic
changes in this modern era. Also there is fake information about Kandyan
dancing flows to the worlds that could destroy the authentic values of it.
Most of the Kandyan ethnic people live in rural areas, and their livelihoods
depend on dancing activities and farming. So people leaving their cultural life
and migrating to search better jobs. Therefore, empowerment is key necessity
and the solution for sustainability and development of Kandyan dancing
culture. However support empowerment processes in Kandy where Kandyan
dancing cast living, face pressed challenges due to cultural and social
ideologies.
As per the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) the
empowerment is “assisting poor rural women and men to build the skills and
the social capital that they need to sustainably increase their incomes and
enhance their food security, and assisting national institutions to provide an
effective policy and organizational framework to support this.” (IFDA, 2007)
Therefore achieving these tasks without disrupting their cultural life will be a
big challenge for the project “NUWARU”
Also the Kandyan dance is originated from an ancient purification ritual and
it‟s always based on the Buddhist culture. Therefore the project should reckon
to inspire by the iconography of a Kandyan dancing culture as merely a
cultural appreciation without disrespecting it. Thus the interpretation of rich
values, culture, ritual aspects, glamour, color, textures, and traditions of the
dance in design needs is another problem which, the project had identified
during the in-depth study.
Thus through the entrepreneurial strategy the project NUWARU is answering
to these bunch of problems by recognizing that a problem exists and phrase it
accurately to facilitate looking for precise answers.

3.0 The Design Proposal

3.1 The idea and proposition of the project –
Entrepreneurial strategy is an entrepreneurial action with a strategic
perspective. However combined certain aspects of both areas will lead the
project to create an innovative concept of strategic entrepreneurship. The
intention of creating the entrepreneurial strategy in this project is to powerfully
communicate its social responsibilities, values, business opportunities and the
sustainability. Also the project is delivering a portfolio which includes design
development details and pictures of the artifact to deposit the design concept
of NUWARU in the mind of consumers.
The project seeks to convert this entrepreneurial strategy which will act as a
social business to benefit Sri Lankan Kandyan ethnic group, driven to bring
about change while pursuing sustainability and inappropriate to pursue the
ample goals other than profit.
The term social business was defined by Nobel peace prize laureate Prof.
Muhammad Yunus and is described in his books- Creating a world without
poverty, Social Business and the future of capitalism and Building Social
Business and The new kind of capitalism that serves humanity's most
pressing needs.
In Yunus' definition, a Social Business is a business:
• Created and designed to address a social problem
• A non-loss, non-dividend company, i.e.
o It is financially self-sustainable
o Profits realized by the business are reinvested in the business, with the
aim of increasing social impact.
In this scenario the project will make use of design thinking and Human
Centered Design to achieve the goals by all the stakeholders can be a part of
creating a more desirable future, and discover the process to take action when faced
with a difficult challenge.
The strategy will become a bridge to connect western market with the Sri
Lankan traditional values. Since art and craft is a universal language the
Kandyan inspiration will help to form a bond between western market and Sri
Lanka at a time when the broader fashion market is alleging
a greater interest to experience the ethnic feel and the cultural exploration.
Therefore this will be an international platform to expose talents and skills of
Sri Lankan Kandyan ethnic group to the world through fashion and accessory
design.

3.1.1 Aim –
The main aim of this project is to build a sustainable social entrepreneurship
strategy by utilizing design thinking and human centered design. The project
aspires to promote Fair Trade fashion artifacts while support and empower Sri
Lankan communities without disrupting their culture while providing global
exposure to Kandyan culture. Moreover the project will intended to support
and retention of Kandyan dancing cultural values and the community through
the social entrepreneurship strategy using the fair trade arena.
3.1.2 Objectives of the project –
Diagram 1: Objectives of the project NUWARU

The project objective describes the project‟s outcomes and Clear
project objectives are crucial because the project's success will be determined
by how closely it meets them.
Mainly there are five objectives has been considered in this project NUWARU
and those will be study profoundly describe during the essay. The first
objective is creating a product range which inspired by Sri Lankan Kandyan
Dancing culture. Therefore designs of the fashion and accessories have been
illustrated and prototyped. Also it has been evaluated the current fashion
trends and color forecast in New Zealand as well as the world.
The second objective of the project is to evaluate the global market as well as
the New Zealand market for ethnic fashion artifacts.
The third phase of objective is to understand the fair trade arena while learn
about their certifications and world fair trade standards. Above three
objectives are considered as the main objectives of the project NUWARU and
has been mainly focused to achieve them during the limited time frame.
The fourth observation identifies the marketing strategy to showcase and sell
the products to the public. This plans to do through online selling by having a
web site, in-store selling and do branding in the events and competitions. The
project has also been looking at the business feasibility in a brief manner.
These two objectives of the project did not study thoroughly but when the
brand is ready to launch these two objectives will be analyzed very deeply as
the others.

3.2 Issues surrounding bringing Kandyan Dance inspired
artifacts to the fashion market-
Since the entrepreneurial strategy is a judicious mix of business strategy and
entrepreneurship which is characterized as a strategy involving widespread
and simultaneous change of the situation of the identified problem; NUWARU
consider the problems which can be raised from the external environment.
One of the main problems the fashion brand can face is the global economic
crisis that has hit the apparel industry primarily in the form of lower consumer
demand in European markets. This has driven down order volumes of many
brands and they had to cut down on new productions and reduce the quality.
Also the fashion market is massively over saturated and more challenging
than ever. At this stage of saturation, further growth can only be achieved
through product improvements, market share gains or a rise in overall
consumer demand.
All the fashion brands in the fashion field continually promote new trends in
order to sell more products. Furthermore, trends in the field are continually
changing, meaning businesses must continually adapt to market demands. In
this situation NUWARU products are less changing due to the Kandyan
Image Credit: http://www.docstoc.com

cultural inspiration and that will be a huge challenge within the changing
fashion market.
Within the global market the availability is very high of cheaper and more
varied ethnic products. Therefore crafts face severe competition in
contemporary markets within the limited desire for ethnic inspiration because
most of them are typically perceived as traditional, old-fashioned and anti-
ethical to modern tastes.
Therefore, NUWARU will seek to identify the problems clearly and find
solutions in an interdisciplinary approach by the use of effective design
methods and research methods.
Diagram 1: Opportunity for entrepreneurial solution to Kandyan
Dancing inspired fashion artifacts

3.3 Fair Trade Arena-
Fair Trade is a social movement that aims to help make better trading
conditions and promote sustainability. Fair trade offers producers a better deal
and improved terms of trade by offering consumers a powerful way to reduce
poverty through their every day shopping. This allows them the opportunity to
improve their lives and plan for their future.
Therefore Fair trade is an alternative approach to conventional trade based on
an emotional linkage and a partnership between producers and traders,
businesses and consumers.
Since the project NUWARU exists purely to support the disadvantaged
Kandyan ethnic group while empower them without disrupting their cultural
values, we believe this entrepreneurship absolutely fits with the fair trade
arena.
Therefore, in the future, the NUWARU anticipate getting the world fair trade
certification by achieving their fair trade standards. The Standards are
designed to address the imbalance of power in trading relationships, unstable
markets and the injustices of conventional trade. When a product carries
the FAIRTRADE Mark it means the producers and traders have met Fair trade
Standards and that will add an additional value to all the products, whilst
making NUWARU an innovative social business.
.
Image Credit: http://www.wfto.com/
Image Credit:
http://www.fairtrade.net/361.h
tml

3.4 The Value Creation Model-
The value of my project is centered in intersection of design innovation,
entrepreneurship and technology to ensure the products are created while
interaction of new value addition rather than simply deliver an existing
circumstance of fashion, accessory and souvenirs. This will allow harnessing
the 2500 years of cultural and ritual values of Kandyan dance while
transaction it in to an artifact as well as a meaningful pleasure to the senses.
Value proposition
of
“NUWARU”
Diagram 2: Value creation model
Design
Innovation
TechnologyEntrepreneu-
rship
Innovative
Fair Trade
Fashion Label
Cottage Industry
Business Model
in Sri Lanka
Web 2.0/
Social Media
Multimedia
Web 1.0
E-mail
Traditional
Technologies
New Kandyan Dance
Inspired Fashion Collection
Emotional linkage between
manufacturer and consumer
New meaningful experience

3.4.1 Innovation-
Innovation is coming up with new ideas, concepts and the development of
new values through solutions. Design innovation can be occurring on any field
and only the design innovation will accomplished by proper problem
analyzing, understanding and anticipating the needs of users and creating
successful products or services that fulfill their desires. This project strives to
“design and analysis of an entrepreneurial strategy benefiting Sri Lankan
communities through the development of fair trade fashion artifacts inspired
by Kandayn Dance” and that will builds up three design innovations
throughout the design process.
The first innovation is the glamour of the Kandyan dancing fuse to the
contemporary fashion apparel, accessory and souvenirs using rich traditional
craftsmanship will be intended while inspiring by the Kandyan dancing
heritage values. The second phase of innovation is new meaningful
experience and a memorable story to the customers and the third innovation
is building up an emotional linkage between manufacturer and consumer
through fair trade fashion arena.
Designing a new experience to the customers by adding intangible value to
the fashion brand through fait trade arena will differentiate my fashion label in
one way from other fashion labels in New Zealand. Customer experience is a
multi-faceted phenomenon that involves with incidences such as subjective
feelings, behavior, expressive and physiological reactions.
There are three levels of product experiences identified. “The entire set of
affects that is elicited by the interaction between a user and a product,
including the degree to which all our senses are gratified (aesthetic
experience), the meanings we attach to the product (experience of meaning)
and the feelings and emotions that are elicited (emotional experience)”
(Hekkert, 2006).

Diagram 3-The interaction of three experiences, use and the product of the
project can be shows as the above diagram.
In the modern era, the products or goods overcome by experience because
the products are tangible, services are intangible but the experiences are
“memorable” to the customers. Therefore the cultural, ethnic brand
experience, ethical manufacturing & trading actually became the primary
source of value in my fashion label and this will not only earn a place in the
hearts of customers but also capture their time and money which are hard to
earn while benefit at once for both the buyer and the business. This in turn it
creates competitive advantage for my fashion label and creates new demand
by unlocking the doors for uncontested market space
Fashionable products
Glamour, colors,
texture, Handicrafts
Luxury, Ethical,
Ethnic, High quality,
Rich
Fashion Label
Inspired by
Kandyan Dancing
Ethical aware
Consumers
 Different cultural values
 Empower an ethnic group
 Authenticity of an ethnic
dance

3.4.2 Technology-
“The advance of technology is based on making it fit in so that you don't really
even notice it, so it's part of everyday life.” – Bill Gates
The technology plays a great part of the project which brings it to a high value
and quality. Modern technologies are methods and systems in order to solve
a problem but some technologies are referred to as `traditional' because
ancient people have used them for many years and achieved great heights
during the course of history by get their basic needs fulfilled easily. No matter
how old or generated in which are, the technologies make human work more
easy and productive.
Even handmade products require technology to fetch high value and glamour.
Kandyan dancing community has been exquisite in traditional skills such as
fabric weaving, stitching, dyeing, hand embroidery, bead works, metal & brass
work, leather manufacturing, wood carving, painting, sculpture molding, clay
pottery making etc. to create their elaborate costumes, jewelry, equipments
and drums. During the project those valuable technologies will be analyze and
harness to create handicrafts for the Kandyan dance inspired fashion artifacts
by showing that they are no longer cutting edge.
Image: The traditional technologies using by Kandyan ethnic group to
manufacture their costumes, dancing equipments and drums.

The Modern technology has affected the world and its surroundings in a
number of ways such as economy, education, communication etc. The Web
2.0 and social media are enormous modern technologies focused on the
ability for people to collaborate and share information online. Therefore in my
project social media has become an integral part of the businesses while
understanding the solid difference that social efforts make to the business.
Also the web sites provide the facility to consumers to research goods and
services before they buy, so clearly there are great advantages having a
website and being the business to provide that information to the market
place. Thus in this stage mock up story telling web site for the fair trade
fashion brand is presenting and that will be launched as the company website
in the future.
Diagram 4: Social media opportunities, benefits & challenges
3.4.3 Types of Social media which the brand will affiliate to its
promotion -
Opportunities of
Social Media [web
2.0]
• Promote the brand
and its vision to the
public
• Update the people
about new products,
services and events
• Monitorthe trends
among the customers
• Research new
product ideas via
social networking
• Collect and track
customer reviews on
company web site,
blog etc.
Benifits that Social
media brings to the
company
•Increased awareness
among target group
•Increase traffic to web
site
•Ability to monitor what
is being said and attitude
of the public about the
brand
•Better understanding of
customer perception
towards the brand
•Increase in new business
•Identification of new
product and service
opportunities
•Could get early warnings
of potential product or
service issues
Challenges reguars
the Social Media
•Understand the potential
of social media to make a
difference in business
•Linking social media
activities to an impact on
company financial statues
•Getting people across the
brand to see the value of
social media activities
•Educating the staff on
how to use social media
effectively
•Capturing/analyzing
online conversations
about the brand and its
products
•Finding qualified staff
who can work on social
media activities
Facebook, Blogs, Yahoo messenger
Twitter , Mylife, Pinterest
Picasa, Cafemom, Google plus
Image credit:
http://btvsearch.com/social-mediamarketing

Image: NUWARU mock-up Image: NUWARU web page
Facebook page
Meanwhile the multimedia technology with 2D and 3D mediums can spread
the word about the brand and the concept by build brand awareness in a very
unique and powerful way. Especially the events, catwalk shows, workshops
and the promotions organized by the company will be spread to the public and
promotions within the shop will be carried out through multimedia in a creative
way. The fashion photo shoots, short videos, magazine and brand catalog will
play a important role when the project concept depositing in customers mind
while creating an awareness.
Also multimedia will be very useful when the most of these modern
technologies will not be accepted and will fail while the promotion of the
project concept to the Sri Lankan Kandyan community because still some of
the rural areas are not too familiar with social networking. Therefore old
multimedia methods will be used to attract the community and create
awareness among them about the cottage industry business model such as
poster campaigns, banners, handbills, news papers etc.
Therefore no matter the technology is old or new, my project will be harness
them all and manipulate to get the maximum benefit of it while creating a
strong awareness among the Auckland consumers as well as the Kandyan
community.

3.4.5 Entrepreneurship –
The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it
as an opportunity. – Peter Drucker
Therefore the project will keen to explore the opportunities and issues facing
new ventures as well as how to foster innovation in existing enterprises which
empowering tactics to promote business growth through entrepreneurial
thinking and acting.
The entrepreneurship of the project is cottage industry business model set up
for Kandyan ethnic group who are unemployed and under level of poverty.
The cottage industry business aims to manufacturing of products that are
small scale manufacturing and handcrafting rather than being manufactured in
a factory. Nowadays, cottage industries ameliorate with crafting and
innovating due to thrive for the exclusivity of the customers. The cottage
industry manufacturing will be introduce to the market while make a distinction
that the consumer can receive a unique, one-of-a-kind, hand-made product
that isn't mass produced. Many consumers also appreciate the human-aspect
to handmade-based created designer wear accessory and souvenirs at the
same time feel that these cottage industry manufactured goods are higher in
quality than goods that are mass produced.
Almost all the dancers and their family members in these Kandyan
communities have been endowed with many skills and talents exclude
dancing. These skills and knowledge transform by generation to generation
intervening manufacture of the dancing costumes, accessories, dancing
equipments and drums. But the fast moving economy through industrialization
has confine these people to their villages and lack of encouragement makes it
difficult for them to become expose to the world and also financially
stabilization. Therefore my project essentially bridges the gap that hinders the
route to market for this community without disrupting their culture and the
lifestyle.
The word entrepreneurship engages with owning or managing a business
enterprise that commits risk and initiative while attempts to make profits.
Therefore entrepreneurial strategy involves identify and exploited
opportunities in the internal and external environment and find new and/or
different action and the strategy of NUWARU will be discussed in the next
chapter of this essay.
Since all the new designs and innovations are risk taking and challenging, my
project will be evaluated by test and failing the prototypes at the early stage.
This will help to strengthen the entrepreneurship when the design and fashion
artifacts are commercialized.

4.1 Methodology overview -
Designing is not a purely artistic activity, we need a body of knowledge which
to a certain degree for the education of designing and for the support of the
designer‟s preparing work. Thus, research and design methodology should
combine knowledge which is being developed, applied and evaluated in order
to provide support in designing. Hence, this section of the essay will take the
opportunity to describe one of the most important parts, the research & design
journey of the project.
The methodology helps to analysis of the principles or procedures of inquiry in
a particular field with a body of methods, rules, and postulates employed by a
discipline to make up the project “fashion label inspired by Kandyan dance”
sustainable.
During the research and design framework we should overcome the most
important limitation of the methodology, the missing link to the „human‟
characteristics of research & designing. Based on the fact that the basic
elements which the methodologies offer, those are an essential support for
the project. But when focus on the human aspect it is so far neglected in most
of the methodological approaches. Therefore, my project is addressing a new
dimension: From start to end the project has worked with different types of
human beings and a move forward with human-centered methodology.
Human-centered design has been used for decades to create new solutions
to design challenges while create innovative approaches to meet these
needs, and deliver solutions that work in specific cultural and economic
contexts. The reason this process is called “human-centered” because it has
started with the analysis & inspire of Sri Lankan national dance with the ethnic
group which belongs to it. Then the project is delivering a Kandyan dancing
inspires fashion artifacts by examining the needs, dreams, and behaviors of
the people who desire to be fashionable and exclusive while allowing the
project to enhance the lives of Kandyan ethnic group without disrupting their
culture. Therefore in this project human centered methodology has been very
helpful to accomplish a successful research by asking the right questions and
get rich data from participant while increase the speed and effectiveness of
designing process and implementing solutions.

The Human-Centered Design Toolkit by IDEO was designed specifically for
people, enterprises and projects that work with ethnic groups, communities
throughout the world. The toolkit walks through the process which starts with
a specific Design Challenge and goes through three main phases: Hear,
Create, and Deliver. Those have been used as the methods of the project
which guide me from one step to the next in each phase of my project.
D
Diagram 5: The HCD Toolkit methods that used as the methods of the project
Image Credit: www.changeorder.typepad.com
Research Methods Design Methods

As per the saying by Homans: “People who write about methodology often
forget that it is a matter of strategy, not of morals. There are neither good nor
bad methods, but only methods that are more or less effective under
particular circumstances in reaching objectives on the way to a distant goal.”
(Homans 1949).
Therefore choice for a particular research method has been decided on the
aim of the study, the research question and by considers the types of
participants.
 
Diagram 6: Research & design methods

4.2 Research Methods –
In this project mainly the research has been carried out to evaluate, what are
the factors that need to be considered to build a successful
entrepreneurial strategy for fair trade fashion products inspired by
Kandyan Dance?
In human centered methodology this is call as the Hear phase, the project will
collect stories and ideas from people. During the primary research the project
will position mixed methods research as the natural complement to traditional
qualitative and quantitative research and to provide a framework for designing
project with the interdisciplinary mode of research
The Research Design Process of the project-
Diagram 7: Research Design Process

The Design process of the project underpins all stages of research &
development– from identifying the problem to answer the research question
and recommendations. Based on design thinking approaches, it is systematic
and achievable to solve problem alacrity.
A variable is just something that can take as the value of objects in which the
project is really keen in explore about. Therefore in this project variables are
fashion industry movements, retail fashion, inspiration, fair trade arena, etc.
To capture these areas through the qualitative research the project has been
interviewed five experts in the fashion and fair trade industry. Also observation
is a fundamental way of finding out about the world around us therefore to
identify the New Zealand fashion market, buying behaviors, styles and trends
the observation method has been used and achieved critical and positive
facts which have been very valuable to build up the project. Since observation
poses potential ethical problems for researchers this has been carried out
unstructured general observation inside the Trade Aid shops, Ponsonby
Street, High Street Auckland and Eco stores.
Data analysis and interpretation is the process of assigning meaning to the
collected information and determining the conclusions, significance, and
implication of the findings. The project has been used Narrative analysis to
analyzing and interpreting qualitative data which found out from the expert
interviews.
Research Questionnaire for experts –
No survey can achieve success without a well-designed questionnaire. In
this project the series of questions has been designed to capture the valuable
thoughts and opinions of the experts in the fashion designing, fair trade and
retail areas who work in New Zealand and Sri Lanka.
The questions are structured on both open ended and close ended formats
and some of the questions are repeated among all three categories of
experts. This has attached in the appendix section of the essay.

Diagram 8: Research Questionnaire
Image: Carrying the expert Interviews

4.3 Expert Interview Findings-
Expert 01 –
 Fair trade is not just paying a fair price for the people, it‟s more than
that. The organization should consider the social and environment
sustainability too.
 Fair trade target market is an expanded one without limits and who
ever having a caring heart is included in the fair trade target audience.
 When the customer getting the feeling that they help for someone, they
use to purchase more and more items and promote the shop by word
of mouth.
 The main criteria of customers when purchasing products are quality
and appearance. But unfortunately now it became the price too.
 The best way to convince the fair trade story and gain trust around the
fair trade organization is talking to the customers when they reach to
the stores and describe about the concept.
 One of the biggest barriers when promoting fair trade products is the
style of the product. Sometimes it does not fit into the western
expectations.
 The advice for a new entrepreneur is “hang on there” but understand
that is not easy.

Expert 02 –
 Determining the needs of the customer is the biggest challenge in
fashion business due to the mindset of customers is changing regularly
and quickly.
 Understand the target market takes sometimes because it depends on
several variables not just only the price. As an example even some
people having enough money they don‟t like much creative designs
and quality materials but they like the traditional thing that they used to
wear.
 Fashion could use as one of the biggest social sustainable tools
because apart from food fashion is the biggest thing that people are
attached to and people are ready to spend any amount of money. So
convey a message through fashion is very successful rather than other
medium.
 Ethnic fashion or any sort of fashion inspired from different thing apart
from the country it‟s selling can be challenging till people get familiar
with it or till they identify the story behind it.

Expert 03-
 What is Fairtrade?
Fairtrade International‟s vision is a world in which all producers can
enjoy secure, sustainable livelihoods, fulfill their potential and decide
on their future. It is a trade relationship looking for equity and
connecting disadvantaged producers and consumers. It allows
producers to reach export markets under fairer conditions, strengthen
their position in international trade, and gain better access to finance,
take part in capacity-building programs and generally take more control
over their lives. There is respect, transparency and dialogue between
producers, traders and consumers.
 If there is Fairtrade then the opposite would mean that the normal trade
is unfair, the so called or assumed Un-Fairtrade (UF) cannot be
changed because Country Taxes and profits for each stakeholder in
the chain of custody has been well established. In order to get over the
problem the consumers decided to pay a premium price for fairly
traded products with the label. Fairtrade is consumer driven.
 The biggest Risk as of FT is once you are accepted as a Fairtrade
Stakeholder and is found to be defaulting in the standards that are set
for the different stakeholders, Fairtrade suspends your membership till
you correct the situation. They then add your name to the suspended
list on the internet without the reason of suspension being given, which
leaves room for speculation as well as creates a situation where your
regular buyers are without items to sell. The regular buyers look for
other sources to get their product and you lose your credibility as well
as a supplier.
 The biggest barrier when promoting fair trade products is the additional
cost for Fairtrade products.
 The advice for a new fair trade entrepreneur
a) It`s pointless if you do not have buyers for your products to
become FT certified.
b) If you have a good item to sell then you have to set up you chain
of custody according to the requirements of Fairtrade.
c) In your case for Kandyan Artifacts it is the WFTO that you have
to look at for Fairtrade certification

 The impetus to have a membership from FT is getting a better chance
of selling your products as well as proper guid lines to follow.
 Transparency at all levels of stakeholders is the key for trust building
and acceptance.
Expert 04-
 Fair trade is not just a co-operate program it is a community based
program founded on long term relationship.
 In the fair trade industry women are working with the organizations
than men and that leads to a real social change because then it‟s
easily educated them about technologies, standards, quality controlling
and health care.
 Auckland is well performing place for fair trade artifacts due to lots of
tourists coming there from several countries.
 New Zealand owns the highest users of fair trade products in the world
and one of the countries shows a higher growth of the fair trade
market.
 The target market or the biggest set of buyers is socially conscious
people who have travelled and having an impression about the rural life
of people. Also people who came from hard backgrounds are keen to
buy the fair trade product because they have experienced the hard life
by them self and they want to support the people who suffer from the
same situation.

4.4 The Design Process-
In this project Design Methods approaches the practice of creating new
products and a memorable customer experience as a strategy, rather than an
art by collaborating ideas, data, stories and inspirations to identify, create and
deliver successful new offerings.
Diagram 9: Design Process
The design methods helped to translate what project has found out through
expert interviews, observations as well as what understood by the literature
review.
The brainstorm or the process of creating new ideas will be the first step and
during this process. The project will move together from concrete to more
abstract thinking in identifying themes and inspirations to harness the rich
craftsmanship, ritual aspects, glamour, color, textures, and traditions of the
dance.

While the design development stage the project seek to unveil those
authentic values to the world by considering deliver a meaningful experience
and memorable story to the customers while create a social responsible
feeling for them through the Kandyan dancing inspired fair trade fashion
artifacts.
The prototyping & illustration built to test the concept and in this stage only
few artifacts have been manufactured and others are presented illustrations of
all the designs due to the limited timeframe which will allow the project quickly
and cheaply make ideas tangible.
At the end of the studies a design portfolio will be submitted which featured
many product ideas include apparel, accessories and souvenirs inspired by
Sri Lankan Kandyan dancing heritage and manufactured using Sri Lankan
traditional technologies. Moreover few garments and accessories are actually
manufactured and embellished by using available materials and digital
printing technology which represent the authentic traditional look of batik, tie &
dye, dip dye, embroidery, and screen printing.
Image: Working on the project title
Image:
Branding/project Ideas &
Understanding the Feasibility

4.5 The design developments -
Image: Design development of scarf collection by the use of Photoshop and
Illustrator software.
Images:
Hand sketches of
design development
ideas and color
combination ideas
before create the
scarf designs on
computer

Images: Few design developments of the scarf that has been selected to
manufacture

Planning the model poses for Photo shoot –

A photo shoot is a great way to showcase the designs in a real form and it just
a great way to eye catching of people therefore in the final stage of the design
manufacturing a creative photo shoot has been done by the use of available
recourses and backgrounds.
All the elements of the pictures represent a profound meaning related to the
project conception such as bright colorful pictures represent the vibrancy of
the concept; models from different ethnicities represent the multicultural and
highly diversity of New Zealand public. Also, the decision to use the concrete
background for photographs represent the NUWARU thoughts of putting the
garments in a contemporary urban setting and use of a candid street-
photography style will appeal to young urban New Zealand customers.

Images: Photo shoot of the scarf designs
Image: Pictures of the
home ware collection of
NUWARU

Image: Tag design of NUWARU
All these pictures are included to the portfolio and those pictures have been
showcased to the fashion and fair trade experts and got evaluated by them in
order to determine the best design for commercial development.
In the future the fair trade fashion label/brand “NUWARU” will be a reality and
it will publish the designs to communicate the value of the products and the
culture. In that stage the promotion will be carried through current 2D and 3D
mediums and technologies as mentioned in the above divisions of the essay.

5.0NUWARU
Entrepreneurial Strategy

5.1 Challenges and Unknowns-
 Difficult to estimate market size and speed of growth
Market growth rates are a key indicator of the wellbeing of an organization
and estimating market size is an essential first step to calculating the market
share of the business. Since the fair trade market is quite specific and a
unique the project faced difficulties to understand and estimate the market
size for the ethnic and ethical fashion artifacts.
 Meeting customer expectations
Customers expect numerous things when they walk into a business therefore
the organization should know how to identify those expectations and meet
them to the customer's satisfaction. Since the business is based on fashion
and fair trade it can be very challenging to know precisely what those
expectations might be because the entrepreneurship should achieve the
ethnic fashion artifact task within the western market and at the same time the
fair trade task among the unprivileged ethnic group while proving the customer
that their purchase has become a support to those indigenous people‟s
wellbeing.
Diagram 10: The Problems could be occurred when Meeting Customer Expectations
unable to
establish trust
with customers
failto definethe
customer’s
expectations &
deliveringvalue
unable to define
the customer’s
needs
failto adequately
responseto the
customer’s
requests
failto follow-up on
promises and
commitments made
to their customers
The
Problems could
be occur when
Meeting
Customer
Expectations

 Lots of competitors among the same area
Within a market every business is facing and suffering by
direct competitors. The fashion business is a good example of a
competitive market in Auckland in which there are many sellers and
brands playing in the same area. Since most of them are not considered
fair trade and manufacturing under cheap labor and mass manufacturing,
the identical products are available for very less prices. Therefore the
Kandyan dance inspired fashion artifacts will be faced for a big competition
because there are so many shops selling Asian ethnic products then the
price of goods & quality will be highly compared among the customers.
 Difficulty of combining western fashions trends with ethnic inspirations
In the fashion world always there is a debate about how to combine the
traditional dress, with living fashions in the western world.
A lot of western people have misconstrued ideas about ethnic fashion,
believing that those are simply not wearable on day to day life, which
makes it difficult to incorporate the latest fashion trends, however this
simply isn‟t true. The main reason for this matter is there have been limited
efforts to reposition the image of ethnic fashion artifacts and build a
consumer appreciation of the history and cultural identity associated with
handmade ethnic products. In addition, there are few instances of
traditional crafts being contemporized to fit with changing consumption
patterns.
But the project always believes it‟s possible to turn the challenges into
opportunities than viewing challenges as an inconvenience.
Throughout the modern era ethnic fashion has grown considerably, with
fashion shows dedicated to modest clothing and designers coming up in
arms with fashionable yet modest designs for all occasions. It seems the
hidden opportunities are remaining in within the westernized market
Since the ethnic fashions comprise its own identity and beauty the
NUWARU will be able to convert the challenges into an opportunity to
achieve success in the area of fair trade fashion artifacts through the
innovative entrepreneurial strategy.

5.2 Sustainability –
Image credit: http://natcapsolutions.org/about/sustainability-defined/#.Ukp5qNI_uP0
Sustainable programs are those make an active commitment to
environmental, social and economic health, or the “triple bottom line.”
Sustainability has both individual and institutional applicability, and is usually a
balancing act. Most people understand by the word “sustainability” cannot be
achieved while considering about globalization, economical growth etc. But
“my project “NUWARU” has identified there are endless possibilities for the
issue of sustainability while achieving the successful entrepreneurship.
As a fashion designer I believe nature is a marvelous inspiration and my
journey of fashion always arm in arm with nature, culture, earth etc. But rather
than inspiring, the subject “sustainability” convince me it‟s more about
improving quality of human life while sharing their heritage with others without
harming it. Nowadays adaptation in fashion is constantly discussing all over
the media and some brands and designers getting so much negative
comments from the public specially from indigenous people to disrespect or
steal their cultural values.
Susan Scafidi, author of “Who Owns Culture? Appropriation and Authenticity
in American Law,” defines cultural appropriation as “taking intellectual
property, traditional knowledge, cultural expressions, or artifacts from
someone else‟s culture without permission.” And the cultural heritage of
indigenous people includes:
• Language, art, music, dance, song and ceremony;
• Agricultural, medicinal, technical and ecological knowledge and practices;
• Spirituality, sacred sites and ancestral human remains;
• Documentation of the above

Therefore Fashion and cultural appropriation are more than passing
acquaintances and the brand or the designers should understand the fine line
between the cultural appreciation and appropriation. Therefore within the
sustainability arena, the project NUWARU will reckons to inspire by the
iconography of a Kandyan dancing culture as merely a cultural appreciation
without disrespecting to it, and disrupt their cultural life. Moreover the brand
will always respect and admire the cultural values and heritage of the
Kandyan ethnic group while work arm in arm with the indigenous members of
the ethnic group to design and development of the fair-trade fashion artifacts.
Therefore the project always will consider the following regulations and
manners to overcome the cultural appropriation and get blame from the
society.
The first consideration is the intellectual and cultural property rights (ICPR) of
indigenous peoples in Asia and it has clearly mentioned the heritage values of
Asian ethnic groups. Since the inspirations from the Kandyan ethnic group
from Sri Lanka, brand “Nuwaru” will consider the Copyright legislation in Sri
Lanka (The Intellectual Property Act 36 of 2003) while acknowledge the
manufactures and the inspirations of Kandy.
The brand always keen to do the Co-designing of Kandyan dance inspired
designs by collaborating with Kandyan ethnic people by setting up a cottage
industry business model where local traditional technologies can be
harnessed. Therefore it won‟t make any mistake or disrespect to the culture
even by mistake because the Kandyan indigenous people always having a
better knowledge about their traditions, culture and heritage. Also they will
provide valuable designing ideas to the brand which can expose the heritage
value to the world while achieving cultural and heritage sustainability.
.
Diagram 11: Triple bottom line of NUWARU

5.3 Branding -
“NUWARU” is not just a fashion brand - It represents so much more. It is an
experience, it is a story, and it stands for community and cultural
sustainability.
Therefore the branding strategy of NUWARU will support for long-term
marketing of the brand based on its characteristics and target audience and
following branding methodology will be used to spread its message to the
world.
Strategic Planning of NUWARU -
Brand name & logo -
The name NUWARU originated according to the Sri Lankan language Sinhala
and which means the “people of kingdom”. The meaning of colors can vary
depending on culture and circumstances. Also colors reflect so many
meanings and personalities. Therefore NUWARU selected it‟s cooperate color
as Gold.
Gold is the color of success, achievement and Associated with abundance
and prosperity. Also it reflects luxury, quality and prestige of the rich Sri
Lankan culture.
Brand Vision-
“To be an authentic partner of people empowerment through ethnic revival”
Brand Mission-
“NUWARU provides ethical, ethnic and exclusive artifacts to the global
fashion market which reflects Sri Lankan rich culture while benefiting Sri
Lankan community and consumer through fair trade arena”
Brand Tagline- “Design to Change”
The basic step in the development of a successful brand is asses and define
is the target audience and the key stakeholders. Therefore in the next division
of the essay the target audience of the NUWARU will be discussed.

5.4 The four pleasures -
Physio-pleasure is a sensual pleasure and the project has allocated
customers to hear and see Kandyan dancing videos and its awesome music
when they come to the shops and reach to the web site with the significant
components of Kandyan dance, the honor and pride.
The customers will achieve the psycho-pleasure by many ways such as the
customer will have the honor that they help to empower an ethnic group and
their living by reducing the poverty level of them as well as not became a part
of environmental pollution.
The brand has sought to sacrifice the Socio-pleasure because all the
apparels, accessories and souvenirs will be handmade by the use of
traditional technologies of Sri Lanka. Therefore all the handcrafted products of
my brand are unique and artistic which crates high demand due to mass
manufactured products are most rarely keep their worth simply because of the
huge amount of identical items on the market.
The ideo-pleasures linked to the most essential component of the brand which
is aesthetic and cultural ideas. Since the majority of fashion goods are sold on
their visual and tactile appearance, the brand always believes the quotation of
Audrey Hepburn, "Elegance is the only beauty that never fades." The
authentic ritual values, colors, textures meanings and motives of Kandyan
dance will reflect on the attractive handicraft fashions which will be deliver a
high aesthetic value and a memorable experience which would be largely
unremarkable and utilitarian to the customs.
On the other hand, fashion is something very specific and different for
everybody and that‟s why people who are very keen about this field because it
is very hard to be different than the rest of crowd in an occasion without
having something extraordinary. The customers will attract to the Kandyan
dance inspired fashion artifacts due to the above reasons which they feel
exclusive, handmade, high quality and social responsible even they are
expensive than the fashion goods which sells everywhere as the mass
manufactures goods.
Therefore the brand will be focus on a specific market segmentation that has
the superior taste and appetite of exclusive ethnic fashions and desirability to
be ethical, throughout the challenging journey of set up a entrepreneurship
with fashion artifacts while be with the same opinion of Donna Karan; "Design
is a constant challenge to balance comfort with luxe, the practical with the
desirable."

5.5 Target Audience of the brand NUWARU -
The project believes a well-defined target market is the first element of
the successful marketing strategy and that determine the success of a brand
in the marketplace. Also there are several benefits can be achieved by
focusing on the target audience which could save time and helps to keep the
marketing process organized especially when engage with marketing efforts.
NUWARU is based on the concept of ethical and ethnic designs inspired by
the rich kandyan dancing culture which all the products are manufactured in
the cottage industry under the fair trade arena. Therefore the target audience
is ethically aware consumers in the fashion market. Therefore this
entrepreneurial strategy always tries to speak to the heart of People who
admire ethical products and willing to pay a little more to help under privileged
people, People who like to be social responsible and the consumers looking
for a balance between price and unique designs.
Also the brand seeks to build a strong emotional linkage between the
customers and the manufactures/ benefiters of ethnic groups because the
brand is creating a platform to Sri Lankan indigenous peoples talents and will
acknowledge them throughout all the mediums.
The following emotional bond will create between the customers and
manufactures:
Image: Emotional linkage between consumer and manufacturer

5.6 Business canvas –
The Business Model Canvas is a strategic management and an
entrepreneurial tool which visualizes & describes the firm's value proposition,
infrastructure, customers, and finances.
Therefore the following Business Model will utilize as the blueprint of how the
NUWARU will direct business in the future.
Diagram 12: Business model canvas
*Investors
*Technology
parties
*Kandyan
community
*Sri Lankan
government
*Social
workers
*Logistic
companies
*Fashion
Designing
*Handmade
production
*Fair trade
*Story telling
Social
entrepreneurship
Fair trade arena
Attractive
outlet/web site/
social media
Meaningful
experience
*Social
Responsibilities
*Friendly/
respectable service
*Understand
customer needs
*Ethical
aware
consumers
*People who
social
responsible
*Skills of the
people
*Kandyan
cultural values
*In store/ direct
sales
*Online sales
*Word of mouth
*Business model dev
*Global Expansion
*Logistic fair
*Wages & salaries
*Taxes
*Community
Supporting programs
Fashion
Artifacts
Advertisements on
web site
Donations/ subsidies

5.7 Offerings to the customers-
Customer value is the benefit that a customer will get from a product or
service in comparison with its cost and that could be tangible or intangible. An
organization can provide value in many ways by offer customers impressive
products and services.
The entrepreneurship NUWARU offers fair trade fashion inspired by Sri
Lankan Kandyan Dance to the broader fashion market. This will be comprised
of contemporary apparel, accessories and souvenirs through the fusion of rich
traditional craftsmanship by capture the ritual aspects, glamour, color,
textures, and traditions of the dance.
These fashion artifacts will introduce to the market by considering modest
styles, which is suitable for ethnic fashion lovers whilst also incorporating the
latest fashion trends. While it is a relatively new offering to customers, there
are a lot of experimentation with different materials, patterns and styles,
allowing for unusual ethnic designs to suit everyone. Also NUWARU products
are high in quality due to all of them are hand-made with care and pride of Sri
Lankans.

These products will be available in the owns retail stores of NUWARU and
also fair trade promoting shops such as Trade Aid and Eco store in New
Zealand. Also the concepts of NUWARU will deliver to the public through
fashion shows, global cultural events, competitions etc. When the customers
participate and visit for those events they will get a life time meaningful life
experience surrounded by Sri Lanka and Kandyan Dancing.
Moreover project seeks to create an online shopping channel which will be
more contented to customers. When a customer visit to NUWARU store, web
site, online magazine or social media channels they will not only see the
product range but also a memorable story of NUWARU. When it comes to
sharing the memorable stories, NUWARU offers customer a memory which
will ever remember their lives and the best stories create a long-term bond
with customers and organization as well as Sri Lankan indigenous people.
Good business stories can inspire a company because they build credibility.
"They elevate and create value in your business," said Suzanne Bates, CEO
of Bates Communications. According to Bates, a memorable story is like a
good book. "It has conflict, resolution and characters,"
Telling good business stories at company functions or to fellow industry pros
helps connect. "Facts and figures are the validation we need; but stories
about people reach us the best," said Nicolas Boillot, author of "I Killed A
Rabid Fox With a Croquet Mallet: Making Your Business Stories Compelling
and Memorable." "The best stories create a long-term bond with customers
and prospects; that impression can be quick with social media and ads or it
can be a long-lasting impression with a good story that people keep
repeating."
Therefore the project is seeking to use the art of storytelling and provide a
space in the web site which actual customer can see the videos and pictures
of manufacturer, the making process and the cottage industry methods. This
will tell the story of NUWARU and make people identify they really want to buy
our products and help the mission of NUWARU.

Image: The story telling web page of NUWARU
The following intimations will be delivered to the public to make them feel that
their purchases have become a social sustainable action.
NUWARU products are more than just a product. There is pride, creativity and
uniqueness and those products are carrying 2500 years of rich cultural values
of Sri Lanka and the techniques the ancients used in the golden era. Since
the products are made by real Kandyan ethnic group people those are highly
authentic and genuine.
When you are purchasing NUWARU products automatically he or she has
been supported the Kandyan artisan directly who needs more support for their
vocation and you are getting something that is made with love by someone
who loves what they do.
Therefore buying NUWARU products is win-win situation: You enrich your life
with beautiful handmade goods, and you enable an artist to continue to follow
their creative dreams. Not only these benefits you are getting but also you can
be proud of supporting Sri Lankan Kandyan community and their wellbeing by
helped contribute to establishing a new economic model in Kandy. Moreover
your purchase speaks on behalf of you and saying "I love what you are doing"
which in turn keeps the artist "doing” it.

Our Connection and transparency between manufacturer and customers will
create a lovely meet up to know where, how and by whom the products were
made. There's a personal connection between you, the product, and the
product's creator. Through our web site you can message to the artist and say
"I love your design! Thank you!"
This new wave of NUWARU artifacts are made by using recycled and
environmental friendly materials to ensure the environmental sustainability. All
the items are small scale manufactured; those are much more
environmentally friendly since there is no use of large manufacturing
machines, chemicals, labor and waste and absolutely no child labor have
been used.
Your valuable money is well spent rather than most of the cost going towards
the profit margin of a retailing and middleman is another advantage and the
biggest service that NUWARU could provide achieve high satisfaction of
customers is by communicating directly with the NUWARU you may be able
to customize your item rather than buying what is available.
Exclusivity: Each of the handmade NUWARU artifacts are unique and a one
of a kind. There are not two handmade items that are the same, which makes
each item a special object, therefore it guarantees that no one will wear the
same fashion as you
The most virtuous story of NUWARU products is you have purchased
from Kandyan craft people who enjoy creating their designs, respect for
their traditions, and venerate the culture and the object holds that
positive energy and it spreads. That will light up your life amid
happiness and vibrancy with the blessings of Sri Lankans.

6.0 Evaluation of the designs –
Due to the limited time few numbers of apparel and accessories inspired by
Sri Lankan Kandyan dancing heritage have been manufactured and
embellished by using available materials and digital printing technology which
represent the authentic traditional look of batik, tie & dye, dip dye, embroidery,
and screen printing. These artifacts have been created as an experiment as
well as a market testing prospect.
The pictures of the artifacts have been presented to the fashion and fair trade
experts and got evaluated by them in order to determine the best design for
commercial development. The following feedbacks and evaluation ideas has
been gathered through the discussion made with two experts mentioned
above.
Comments made by fashion designing expert -
All of these products have distinct potential to sell well in a western market.
They carry a flavor of Sri Lanka without being overtly ethnic.
Beaded dress styles: These have appeal for the younger market (school
leavers, young working women and tertiary students). If they are produced in
cottage industry settings and sold through Trade Aid type markets, they might
be more costly than similar dresses available in mainstream stores. However I
can envisage that they might be something that parents buy for their
daughters for special occasions. Alternatively, a growing 'conscious
consumer' sector may well mean that young working women and tertiary
students seek out this type of product as an alternative to mass produced
garments. A possible added benefit of the cottage industry is that no two
garments might be alike; giving an exclusivity factor
Women's scarves: These could appeal equally to the younger 'Hipster'
market, as well as to an older customer (there is a definite fashion
demographic of women in their 50s and older who embrace color and
texture).
Men's scarves: Scarves have been a strong item in the menswear fashion
market in recent years, so these would definitely appeal. The designer could
also offer a more colorful one for the more alternative menswear buyer.
Home wares: Lovely! These would be desirable for both homeowners and
those purchasing gifts – especially if marketed with the story of who produced
them – brings both a lovely product and global relationship right into your
home!

Comments made by Fair Trade expert -
First of all the designer is not only just a fashion designer but also a kind
hearted person who really trying to achieve a social development. This is the
main uniqueness of the designs too and which will lead the project to be
succeeding in this competitive world.
The designs are very colorful and eye catching therefore it could attract
fashionable people easily. When those are manufactured by the use of real
traditional materials and techniques the appearance and the value of them will
be very high.
This is the correct time to identify the cost structure and the prices of the
products and then you can test the market much better because unfortunately
people measure the thing by the price of it even the designs are so beautiful
and authentic.
The home wears designs have come out very well that people can buy them
without thinking twice about the amount of money that they are paying for it.
Since the gift item market is booming your designs are well fitting to the
modern market.
Altogether the design and the project concept is highly exceptional and well
matching into the western ethical market.
Analysis of the feedbacks about the designs -
By looking at both the feedbacks from the expert in two different fields the
ethic inspiration for the western market will be a successful fashion business
concept and the fair Trade concept that‟s been more differentiated it from all
other fashion competitors. Both the vibrancy of the designs and the story
behind it adds additional values to the designs and that makes to attract more
people towards ethnic and ethical products rather than mass manufactured
low quality products available in the same market.
Therefore my ethical, ethnic and exclusive fashion artifact could be converted
to a real fashion and social entrepreneurship in the future which will benefit
both Sri Lankan Kandyan ethnic group and the broader fashion market.

7.0 Significant Findings –
The art of storytelling will bind the people with the organization by
emotionally and that will help people to make sense of the organization
and its products.
Since the stories are one of our oldest and powerful mechanisms for
communicating thick ideas, People thrive on stories to help those put
things in perspective and to help them navigate the overwhelming
amount of data, facts, and realities that confront them.
Designing a new experience to the customers will be adding an
intangible value to the brand because better service and a better
customer experience can contribute to greater customer loyalty. People
will not connect with a business that offers no emotional connection or
a novel experience and that doesn‟t meet a need.
Harness the traditional local technologies will be a great differentiation
that could fetch authentic values, high quality and glamour to the
products. When the brand establishes with differentiations that focus
on the value formation of the product versus other similar products on
the market that strategy creates a perceived value among consumers
and potential customers
The designs created by fusion of European silhouette & style lines with
traditional embellishments as well as the fabrics offered a large extent
of appreciations from the fashion market. This has become the product
differentiation strategy of the brand NUWARU that focuses on the
quality and design of the product which could create the perception that
there's no substitute available on the market.
There are some People who not only like to buy fair trade products but
also invest and support for social development programs. Therefore
NUWARU could offer an opportunity to kind hearted people living all
over the world to be a partner of a viable business that promotes fair
trade commerce, even by a small amount of ethical investment.

8.0 Conclusion -
This project has focused on the design and analysis of an entrepreneurial
strategy benefiting Sri Lankan communities through the development of fair
trade fashion artifacts inspired by Kandayn Dance named as NUWARU.
Mainly the has been carried out to find what are the factors that need to be
considered to build a successful entrepreneurial strategy for fair trade
fashion products inspired by Kandyan Dance. The utilization of design
thinking and human centered design has been strengthened the configuration
of the project to build up it as a viable entrepreneurship and a social
sustainable and development agency.
The deliverables of the project are authentic and ethically manufactured
artifacts range comprised of apparel, accessories and souvenirs as well as
creating a meaningful experience and memorable story to the customers
through an emotional linkage between customer and manufacturer. Also the
project has sought to unveil the Kandyan dancing heritage values to the world
while setting up a cottage industry business model where local traditional
technologies can be harnessed and empower the Kandyan community.
This essay has been outlined the important phases that should be considered
to develop the project idea such as value creation of the project by identifying
the innovation, technology and entrepreneurship divisions and branding along
with sustainability of the business. Mainly the project paid a higher attention to
respecting the Kandyan dancing heritage while makes it as the source of
inspiration by ensuring the project will only execute merely a cultural
appreciation without forming a disrespectful cultural appropriation and
empower the Kandyan ethnic group without disrupt their cultural life.
Subsequently the project has been sought the challenges it could face such
as Fashions is constantly changing, therefore the brand should be keep
update with modern trends all the time and understanding the risk of the
excusive handmade product manufacturing can be confront while differentiate
among the mass manufacturing goods. Since the Fair Trade has become one
of the most significant market-based initiative social development concept lots
of companies introduce themselves as fair trade businesses and that created
a challenge in Fair trade movement which the labeling and accreditation
organizations are coming under increasing scrutiny from critics who claim
their standards are not 'fair‟. Therefore NUWARU highly consider of
maintaining its authenticity, transparency and loyalty among the customers as
well as the Sri Lankan community.

Although by the use of data gathered through expert interviews and
observations the entrepreneurial strategy has been more strengthen and
those ideas has been utilized while prototyping, illustrating and manufacturing
the fashion artifacts inspired by Kandyan dancing. A photo shoot has been
done and the pictures of the artifacts have been presented to the fashion and
fair trade experts and got evaluated by them in order to determine the best
design for commercial development. According to the opinions of experts the
artifacts and the designs will successfully magnetize the western market while
being differentiate through fair trade arena.
In summary, by the use of theoretical knowledge learn during the master of
design studies and the valuable information gathered through research the
project NUWARU has outlined its entrepreneurial strategy and the design
portfolio within the limited time frame. However in the future the project will be
aspired to extend its vast and ample ambitions of “Ethnic Revival” of Sri Lanka
while promoting and reveal the cultural heritage and values to the world and
set up a “Sri Lankan fashion icon” within the global market in the future.

9.0 References-
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10.0 Appendix –
Expert Interview – Fashion Industry (Fashion Designer)
1. What motivated you to begin your own fashion business?
2. What is the signature style of your fashion brand?
3. What do you think is the best way to convey story/concepts to the
customers?
4. How do you determine the needs of your customers?
5. How did you identify the target market for your products?
6. How do you take feedback/ opinions from your customers?
7. How do you maintain the customer relationship/ customer loyalty?
8. (Since fashion changes regularly) How do you bring changes to your
products while maintaining your signature style?
9. What are the emotional/touching factors of your customer that made
theme to buy your products?
10.Do you think fashion can be used as a tool for social sustainability?
11.What is your opinion on ethnic fashions?
12.Could you describe the type of market that will be suitable for an ethnic
& ethical fashion collection in Auckland?
13.Do you think it would be able to develop and continue as a brand?
14.Do you reckon any challenges that could be faced when launching an
ethnic fashion brand? What might these be?
15.What is your advice for a new fashion entrepreneur?

Expert Interview – Fashion Industry (Fair Trade Fashion Designer)
1. What is your opinion on ethnic fashions?
2. In the world what market will be suit for the ethnic fashion collection?
3. What challenges will it face?
4. Will it be able to develop and continue as a brand for fair trade?
The following questions are regarding fair trade fashion business
5. According to you what is fair trade fashion products/business?
6. How you used fashion as a tool for a social sustainability?
7. How do you see ethical/ fair trade fashion changing the fashion
industry?
8. (Since fashion changes regularly) How do you bring changes to your
products while maintaining your signature style and fair trade concept?
9. Do you reckon any challenges that could be faced when launching an
ethnic fashion brand? What might these be?
10. What things you do to make the fair trade fashion products
continuously processing/ selling?
The following questions are regarding target market of ethical/fair trade
fashion business
11. Are people keen to buy fashion products that promote fair trade?
12. How do you define the target market of fair trade fashion business?
13. How do you raise awareness and trust for Fair Trade concept and
products?
14. What do you think is the best way to convey story/concepts to the
customers?
15. How do you get feedback from customers?
16. What do you believe motivates your customers to buy specific
ethical/Fair Trade products?
17. What is your advice for a new fair trade fashion entrepreneur?
18. How would you define success in ethical/fair trade fashion industry?

Expert Interview – Fair Trade Business Professions
1. According to you what is fair trade business?
2. How you used the fair trade business as a tool for a social
sustainability?
3. Which of the following fair trade criteria are more important to
you?
a) Fair Price
b) Price stabilization
c) Care for working conditions
d) Informational transparency
e) Investment in local public goods
f) Care for environmental sustainability
g) Long-running relationship with producers
h) Other, If please explain
4. What are the key principles that you are following in the fair trade
business?
5. What are the standards that you are maintaining?
6. What is the best place to sell fair trade products in Auckland?
7. Are people keen to buy products that promote fair trade?
8. How do you define the target market of fair trade business?
9. How do you raise awareness and gain trust around the concept of
Fair Trade ?
10.How do you raise consumer awareness of specific Fair Trade
products ?
11.What do you believe motivates your customers to buy specific
Fair Trade products?
12.What do you see as the biggest barrier to you when promoting and
trading fair trade products?
13.What are the risks if any, involve with the fair trade business?
14.What is the impetus to have a membership from FT/world fair
trade organization?
15.What is your advice for a new fair trade entrepreneur?

Expert Interview – Fair Trade Business Professions (Retail)
01.According to you what is fair trade business?
02.Which of the following fair trade criteria are more important in
the Fair Trade business?
i) Fair Price
j) Price stabilization
k) Care for working conditions
l) Informational transparency
m) Investment in local public goods
n) Care for environmental sustainability
o) Long-running relationship with producers
p) Other, If please explain
03.How do you define the target market of fair trade business?
04.As per your experience what are customers’ main criteria’s when
purchasing products?
Appearance Material
Color Style
Comfort Pattern & Images
Durability Brand
Price Fair trade & the stories
Quality Other (please specify)
05.What do you believe motivates your customers (emotional factors)
to buy specific Fair Trade products?
06.What is the best way/ how do you convince the story/concepts of
fair Trade to the customers?
07.How do you raise awareness and gain trust around the concept of
Fair Trade among the customers?
08.What are the standards that you are maintaining when dealing
with the customer in the Fair trade shop?
09.What do you see as the biggest barrier to you when promoting and
trading fair trade products?
10.What is the best and an economical approach to market the
products?
11.How can it apply for a beginner in the fashion business?
12.What is your advice for a new fair trade entrepreneur?

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