JAN Magazine - June 2021

 

 

Dear Reader, 

In the Kegalle District of Sri Lanka, Pinnawala is a village situated east of the capital Colombo and is mostly known for its elephant orphanage… this is also the reason why Pinnawala actually is a controversial name in our colour range.

All our colour names have been chosen based upon locations in Sri Lanka that are special to me. Kandalama, Nayakakanda, Namal Uyana, and all the rest are places in Sri Lanka that mean a lot to me, either because of my roots, because I was touched by the vibe when I visiting them or that I just find incredibly beautiful.

I will never forget the first time I visited Pinnawala in 1998... it was also the first time I went back to my country of birth. At age 17 I made a tour with my parents and a group of other (Dutch) parents and their children, mostly adopted from the island.

Naturally, the elephants in the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage made a great impression on me. We honestly have no idea how the animal welfare situation was in the late nineties though, mainly because the general awareness for these kinds of things was very low at the time.

Today however, it is no secret that most of these animals in locations like Pinnawala live in very poor conditions, which saddens us deeply.

 Therefore, we want to be very clear that the Pinnawala reference in our colour range is, for the dark grey towels and for the dark grey leaves on white bedlinen, does not mean that we support the current situation in the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage.