KØL began with the two of us; childhood best friends, a shared love for Sri Lanka, and a simple idea: to create pieces that feel a little like home.
We’ve been best friends for 20 years, since we were 9 years old. Somewhere along the way, life placed us on two different sides of the world; one of us in Colombo and the other in London. No matter how far apart we were, the little things stayed with us.
The phrases we grew up hearing. The humour only Sri Lankans seem to understand. Our love for කිරි තේ and a little gossip. Biscuit tins that were never actually filled with biscuits. Aunties with endless questions. Ammas with the final say. All those wonderfully ordinary things that somehow become the things you miss the most when you’re away.
That feeling became KØL.
Our name comes from කොළඹ - Colombo - கொழும்பு, the city at the heart of our story and where we first met as best friends at school.
But KØL was never meant to belong to just one city.
We created it for anyone who carries a little piece of Sri Lanka with them, whether you’re living on the island or thousands of miles away, just like us.
With every KØL piece, we take something familiar and turn it into something you can wear, carry or keep. Sometimes it’s nostalgic. Sometimes it’s cheeky. Sometimes it’s something another Sri Lankan will look at and immediately understand without you having to explain a thing.
To us, Sri Lanka isn’t only a place.
It’s a feeling.
It’s an inside joke.
It’s a memory.
Most importantly, it’s home.
And KØL is our little way of carrying home with us, everywhere we go. 🇱🇰
With love,
Chamindie & Yohani
Founders of KØL CEYLON