About Us
A fresh innovative women's apparel business establishing from the 22nd of November 2013.
Colombo-based womenswear label Shay int. was founded in late 2013 by Shayani Alwis, following a small collection of summer dresses inspired by bohemian styling. The pieces were sold exclusively through her retail outlet and design boutique located in the heart of Colombo, and the enthusiastic response led the designer to develop these initial themes into a broader collection that combines a strong sense of personality with a modern, eclectic attitude.
Growing up in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Shayani was always enthused by its tropical atmosphere but also at the same time she what inspires her the most traveling and discovering new cultures and can been seen in her individual, eccentric and bold styles are reflected in Shay int. collections. Design aesthetic. Drawing on the standards of international style with equal doses of pride and irony, the label is relaxed, feminine and fun, shot through with a touch of refined sensibility.
Every step of the tailoring of the designs is done in Sri Lanka with a 90% female work force where around 50% work from home. A major goal of Shay Int. is to promote the livelihood of women and help them grow as entrepreneur as the Shay Int. brand grows.
Shayani holds a 1st class in Fashion Design from the University of Northumbria U.K in affiliation with the Academy of Design(AOD) in Colombo and has gone on to win the “Own brand” award at the Mercedes Benz fashion week held in Colombo, which was followed by her participation in the Mercedes Benz fashion week in Kiev, Ukraine.
The Journey
OUR HEART
Dedicated to effortless elegance, Shay designs pieces made to last.
Taking inspiration from a good old slice of time or simply a state of mind. Let out pieces journey with you as you discover yourself, and find yourself coming back to it time and time again.
We stand for creativity, growth and self-expression and most importantly aim to promote the live hood of women and help them grow together with the brand.
OUR COLLECTIONS & DESIGNS
Our CEO / designer Shayani Alwis exclusively creates fresh new styles every week for our Shay Int girl. Production process takes about 3 months, from design to sampling to production, which means we are working super hard with Lots of love from start to finish, Just For You!
The Mission
OUR SUSTAINABILITY & ETHICAL JOURNEY
2021 for Shay Int has been about focusing more on how we can make a shift or how we can do better ethically. Although it’s not something we can change overnight, or instantly, we want to do it right.
Changes we’ve made for 2022 – targeting on shifting 30% of store designs to fully biodegradable fabrics.
RECYCLE
We at Shay Int focus on how we can make a garment last for a life time. It’s been a gradual process over the last 8 years but we think we’re definitely in the groove.
We want to offer our Shay girl the option of recycling the cloths that have been sitting in their closets for way too long and donate them to charities. Instead of letting them go to landfill we want to give them a new life that will last a couple more years. We will offer a discount on any bill to encourage our girls to bring in their previously loved clothing.
WASTAGE
Since we have grown into a bigger scale production line, we are now donating our fabric cut wastage to house wives that work from home to wave carpets.
We are also introducing a free tote bag made with our fabric off cuts to any purchase above RM100.
ETHICAL PRODUCTION
Our in-house production line is closely monitored with above average wages given to all our employees and making sure working conditions are maintained highly.
We as a Shay Int team are a super tight family that look after each other and welcomes anyone that works with us, from models to photographers to cutters, to sewers, etc to be a part of this journey.
