Catherine Rawson 2018-01-14T11:54:38+05:30

Catherine Rawson

Catherine Rawson is a British born fashion designer based in Galle, Sri Lanka.

First taught to sew and knit as a young girl at the weekends by her Grandmother, loving design and all things textile and craft based she went on to study fine art, photography and eventually fashion design. Catherine graduated with a first class BA HONS degree from Central Saint Martins in 2004. She is the founder of The Old Railway label for womenswear and menswear.

 

During and after her time at University Catherine worked for various designers in Paris and London assisting in the studio, technical drawing for portfolio lookbooks and creating knitwear samples and hand knitting showpieces for Paris fashion week.

 

After a brief stint on Broadway Market in London selling and making children’s toys out of the left over fabric from her final collection, Catherine accepted a tour leader position with UK based Adventure travel specialists EXPLORE WORLDWIDE and she worked all over the world for several years, continuing to be inspired by local textiles in the markets she visited on her travels.

 

In 2006 Catherine visited Sri Lanka on holiday and found herself in Galle. She soon fell in love with the country, the textiles and the people, and one in particular went on to become her husband in 2010.

 

Following their marriage, Catherine and Rasika’s vision to open a shop and café combining both their interests of food and design was realized. Located in the old arched store rooms of the Ceylon Railway Company, The Old Railway opened its doors in January 2011 with the café above the studio opening the following year. What started as a gift shop soon developed into a clothing shop and then on to a fashion label showing regularly at Colombo Fashion Week.

 

The Old Railway is now well established as one of Sri Lankas favourite go to brands for fashion and style, where Catherine and her team have created effortlessly stylish, collections focusing on Quality, locally sourced Fabric and ethically sound production.