Hi! I am Sanjaya Lakmal. When I was starting my career in 2002, I picked up this pseudonym 'Nikil Nirvana' and been using it to sign pretty much all of my work since then. To this day, I publish my writings, music, fashion concepts...etc under Nikil Nirvana. The reason behind this name is, it's not just sound unique, it also represents the culture I grew up with. Nikil (निखिल) is a male name of Sanskrit origin. It means 'complete' or 'whole' and it is an epithet of the Hindu deity Vishnu. Nirvana (निर्वाण) is also a name of Sanskrit origin that represents the concept of liberation from the cycle of birth and rebirth.
By using this name on the website, I'm hoping to add a layer of professional intrigue and preserve the consistency of my brand identity.
Born in Kandy, a historic city in central Sri Lanka, I grew up surrounded by fantasy story books that were heavily influenced by Indian culture. I have very fond memories of reading ‘Mahābhārata’, ‘Rāmāyaṇa’ and ‘Jātaka tales of Buddha’ with my grandmother. These books helped me develop my imagination from early on. I read the stories and then drew the characters from what I imagined them to be which later developed into fashion sketching, influencing my designs. Not only did I draw the characters, I sang, danced and reenacted the stories with my sisters and friends, using costumes we fashioned from my mother’s saris. We didn’t have much back then, but we most certainly had a vibrant childhood!
I always wanted to be a fashion designer. I loved everything about it, but in my late adolescence I realized I loved designing pretty much everything. At the age of 19 I left home to move to Colombo and start my career as a store clerk at Paxar Lanka Pvt Ltd (now Avery Dennison Lanka Pvt Ltd). There, I learned so much about various printing techniques, materials such as paints, boards, stickers, etc. That knowledge was so helpful when I started designing packaging later on. I left Paxar to pursue my passion for fashion and joined MONDY Pvt Ltd, (a leading ladieswear retailer in Sri Lanka), as a visual merchandiser. It was my first real job in fashion. I learned a lot about window displays, layering & accessorizing and how to present a collection. During this time, I studied fabric technology, pattern making and grading, and store management.
I joined ODEL Pvt Ltd (a leading fashion and lifestyle retail department store in Sri Lanka) as a visual merchandiser and was there for 8 years. I graduated with a Diploma in Graphic Design during this time and educated myself on 3D modeling as well. I also finished my fashion portfolio ‘NIRVANOLOGY 1945’ and got into mixing and audio/video design over this period. At ODEL, I started custom fixture developments for product displays, concept developments and space planning. During my tenure at ODEL, I was instrumental in bringing to life several new business concepts including, DELITE (a confectionery concept), and LUV SL (a gift and souvenir concept).
In 2016 I was recruited to join Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi pre-opening team as Visual Merchandising Manager. There, I developed display systems and fixtures, display tools, all in-store graphics and signage programs, window displays, merchandising floor plans and lighting, and so much more. After opening the park in 2018, my team and I merged with Farah Experiences LLC to include responsibility for Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, Yas Waterworld, CLYMB Abu Dhabi, Qasr Al Watan (UAE Presidential Palace) and the development of SeaWorld Abu Dhabi and The WB Abu Dhabi (a resort hotel).
In 2022, I joined Imagine Exhibitions Inc. as Retail Design Director. Imagine Exhibitions is a world class exhibition producer and operator based in Atlanta, GA USA. Here, I designed and developed display systems and fixtures, merchandising floor plans, display tool and so much more for exhibitions including Harry Potter: The Exhibition, Discovering King Tut's Tomb, Real Bodies: The Exhibition.