bindy.
Opening page…
Our Origin & Manifesto
Two Islands. One Thread.
“We believe what you wear should ground your spirit. Clothes created at the human pace of memory, connecting ancient Sri Lankan soil to warm Australian sunlight.”
BINDY was founded by three women — a mother and her two daughters — rooted in Colombo and blossoming in Brisbane. Frustrated by the frenetic obsolescence of global fast fashion, we returned to first principles: honest cotton, ancestral wooden looms, and silhouettes designed to be worn slowly and cherished for decades.
Every button is carved from organic mother-of-pearl or reclaimed coconut husk. Every seam is finished with couture dignity. We do not design for the trend cycle; we design for quiet, meaningful moments under the sun.
Galle Fort & Brisbane
Where ancestral memories meet the Australian sun.
Our Journey
The Unfolding Timeline
From late-night calls across the Indian Ocean to a community of women wearing conscious handloom across Australia.
2020
Colombo & Brisbane
The Seed in Two Continents
Separated by ocean during global lockdowns, Dilrukshi in Colombo and her daughters Binadhi and Vinudhi in Brisbane dreamed of building a bridge between their ancestral home and their modern lives. The concept of 'Two Islands, One Thread' was born over long late-night video calls.
2022
Western & Central Provinces
Loom Revivals & Village Alliances
Dilrukshi spent months traveling through rural Sri Lankan weaving villages, partnering directly with master women weavers operating ancestral teak pit-looms. We pledged 1.8× fair living wages and funded the restoration of 14 heritage looms.
2024
Australian Wardrobe Debut
Launch of Collection 01 • Serendipity
Our inaugural capsule of seventeen handcrafted silhouettes launched across Australia. Featured in Vogue Australia and Broadsheet for its poetic storytelling and uncompromising slow-fashion integrity.
Today
Two Islands, Bound in Grace
Generational Heirlooms
With studios in both Brisbane and Colombo, BINDY remains an intimate, family-run atelier. Every limited edition piece continues to be cut, sewn, and numbered by hand.
Three Women. One Vision.
Meet Our Founders
A mother and her two daughters uniting ancestral Sri Lankan manufacturing mastery with relaxed Australian lifestyle ease.
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Dilrukshi Wickramarathna
Founder & Creative Director
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Specialist Focus
Artisan Loom PartnershipsCouture Pattern CuttingSmall-Batch EthicsNatural Fibres
“Every garment must hold honesty in its threads and dignity in its making.”
With over twenty-five years at the heart of Sri Lanka's textile craft, Dilrukshi grew up watching ancestral handloom weavers transform raw cotton spools into fluid, breathing fabric.
She founded BINDY out of a deeply held conviction that modern luxury fashion had lost its soul to mechanized fast production. For Dilrukshi, true beauty resides in the human rhythm of the wooden shuttle, the natural variations of unbleached yarn, and fair, dignified livelihoods for female weavers in rural villages.
Today, she personally oversees every prototype in our Colombo studio, ensuring every seam, facing, and button loop adheres to couture-grade standards of slow craftsmanship.
In Conversation with Dilrukshi
Q: What does 'Two Islands, One Thread' mean to you as a mother and designer?
It is the living bridge between where our roots are planted and where my daughters are blossoming. Sri Lanka holds our memory, our architecture, and our weavers' ancestral hands. Australia offers space, sunlight, and a deep appreciation for easy, honest elegance. The thread is both literal and spiritual — it holds our family together across the Indian Ocean.
Q: Why do you insist on traditional wooden handlooms over industrial machinery?
Industrial looms run on electric speed and pressure; they flatten the soul of cotton. A handloom breathes with the rhythm of the artisan's foot pedal and heartbeat. You can feel the difference against your skin — it holds pockets of air that keep you cool in high humidity.
Q: What is your promise to the women who wear BINDY?
That you will never wear a garment produced at the expense of another woman's wellbeing. Every button is stitched with fair wages and mutual respect.
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Binadhi Ranasinghe
Concept & Trend Muse
Brisbane, Queensland
Specialist Focus
Australian Lifestyle FitSubtropical BreathabilityContemporary ProportionVersatile Styling
“Fashion should feel like second nature under the sun — fluid, relaxed, and deeply personal.”
Currently immersed in contemporary fashion design at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Binadhi translates BINDY's ancestral textile heritage into the effortless vernacular of the modern Australian wardrobe.
Her days transition from university design studios to morning river walks along New Farm and weekend coastal escapes to Noosa. She understands firsthand how Australian women live: needing pieces that move seamlessly from humid subtropical daylight to balmy twilight gatherings.
Binadhi is the architect behind our relaxed silhouettes, deep functional pockets, and versatile separates that can be layered or worn stripped-back.
In Conversation with Binadhi
Q: How do you translate traditional handloom into everyday Australian style?
It's all about ease. Australian women appreciate honest luxury that doesn't feel precious or fragile. I take the incredible textures my mother develops in Colombo and cut them with clean necklines, relaxed waists, and movement that looks right with leather sandals, bare feet on the grass, or boots in autumn.
Q: What piece from Collection 01 is on high rotation in your Brisbane wardrobe?
The Tea Leaf Two-Piece Set. I wear the linen crop with high-waisted denim for studio days, and the tiered skirt with an oversized white shirt for Saturday morning markets at West End.
Q: What has working alongside your mother and sister taught you?
That family honesty makes for fearless design. We critique each other with love, and the clothes are infinitely better because three generations of women tested every armhole, seam, and strap before it went into production.
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Vinudhi Ranasinghe
Visual Storyteller & Muse
Brisbane & Colombo
Specialist Focus
Campaign Art DirectionLocation StorytellingBrand Poetry & ToneCommunity UGC
“We don't just create clothes; we capture memories and weave them into living art.”
Vinudhi is the poetic lens of BINDY. With an innate gift for visual narrative, art direction, and styling, she shapes how our garments are documented, felt, and remembered.
She directs all editorial campaigns on location — scouting sun-dappled Dutch colonial courtyards in Galle Fort, monsoon-washed lotus ponds in Anuradhapura, and golden-hour sand dunes along Moreton Bay.
As both face and creative director of our visual imagery, Vinudhi rejects sterile fashion photography in favor of cinematic film frames that evoke calm, belonging, and emotional resonance.
In Conversation with Vinudhi
Q: How do you choose locations for BINDY campaigns?
We look for places where light tells a story. A doorway weathered by eighty years of coastal sea salt, an ancient stone wall painted with turmeric lichen, or the long golden shadow across a Queensland verandah. The clothes are designed to belong to these quiet spaces.
Q: What mood do you want someone to feel when they land on BINDY's journal?
A slowing down of the breath. We live in an exhausting culture of hyper-consumption and fast-scrolling noise. When you look at BINDY, I want you to feel the calm of early morning tea on a mountain ridge.
Q: How do you incorporate your Sri Lankan heritage into your aesthetic worldview?
Sri Lankan aesthetics have always been about intimacy with nature — open-air pavilions, terracotta roof tiles cooling the rain, hand-carved coconut wood. We bring that organic honesty into modern visual storytelling.
Village Cooperatives
The Artisan Handloom Process
Four deliberate steps guided entirely by human hands on traditional pit-looms in Gampaha and Western Province.
STEP 013 to 5 Days
Yarn Preparation & Natural Dyeing
Raw Unbleached Cotton Spools
Long-staple raw cotton yarns are conditioned, hand-spun, and steeped in plant-derived pigments extracted from cinnamon bark, dried madder root, turmeric, and tea leaves.
Conducted by generational artisans
STEP 022 Days per Loom
Warping the Wooden Loom
Mathematical Precision by Hand
Over 2,400 individual warp threads are counted, tensioned, and threaded through wooden heddles by eye and feel. This painstaking step determines the drape of the final fabric.
Conducted by generational artisans
STEP 034 to 6 Meters Daily
Rhythmic Shuttle Weaving
Human Pace, Living Texture
The weaver coordinates foot treadles and flying wooden shuttles with steady cadence. An experienced master weaver produces just four to six meters of fabric each day.
Conducted by generational artisans
STEP 04Small-Batch of 25 Pieces
Tailoring & Natural Shell Finishes
Couture Quality in Colombo
Woven lengths rest for 48 hours before being cut to pattern. French seams, bias binding, and hand-stitched natural shell buttons complete each limited edition silhouette.
Conducted by generational artisans
Fair Trade & Dignified Livelihoods
Our Direct Artisan Wage Pledge
We bypass export agents and middle tiers, funding village cooperatives directly and paying 1.8 times the standard artisan rate. This ensures our female weavers can work from their village homes while supporting children through higher education.
1.8×Living Wage Standard
Ethical Foundations
What We Stand For
Four uncompromising pillars shaping every thread, pattern, and package.
Ancestral Handloom
Woven exclusively on traditional wooden pit-looms with zero electrical power. Pockets of living air trapped within the weave create natural thermal comfort.
Slow, Small-Batch Craft
Strictly limited editions of 25 to 50 numbered pieces. We never mass produce, never discount to landfill, and honor every meter of cotton.
Cultural Storytelling
Our clothes are living fragments of memory — temple lotus ponds, 5th-century Sigiriya fresco clays, and coastal pearl divers translated into quiet luxury.
Deep Sustainability
100% natural, biodegradable fibers, organic mother-of-pearl and coconut buttons, certified non-toxic dyes, and plastic-free home-compostable mailers.