Charlot's Bag - Badulla

Charlot Bags is an offshoot of Charlot Apparals, which began with Nirmalie Ranasingha and her venture into designing clothes. She recalls how the clothes she would sew for her daughters gained much attention among their friends and this prompted her to go further and develop her skill into an enterprise. She then went onto mastering outfits for medical workers and teachers. She mentions that while she has always her passion for sewing, she followed a special course to master her art. Interestingly some of her first lessons were given to her by the very lady she now calls her mother-in-law.

Palitha Ranasingha, grew up with the art of sewing in his roots and has always been extremely supportive of his wife’s initiative and helped in every way he could. When Covid-19 hit, businesses in general suffered quite a bit of damage and it became a challenge to adapt and remain afloat. The couple took this opportunity to temporarily move away from apparel and test new waters. Then came Palitha’s moment to shine. Already possessed with a knack for sewing which was passed down from his mother, he ventured into the design and production of travelling bags and pouches. He researched the subject to develop his skills further and introduced this new product at a business summit and things took flight from there.

To add some sentimentality to their story, the couple fondly mentions Palitha’s mother, Charlot, whom the business was named after. She stood as a common ground for both of them from their youth and played quite the role in their success story.

As of now, they have employed around 4 people to help whenever required depending on the number of orders. However, due to issues arising from Covid-19 and the current economic crises, a majority of the work is handled by the couple themselves. The production of the bags is done entirely by Palitha himself, as he is the one who has mastered the skill of sewing duffel bags and Dopp Kits. He uses leather and oil canvas as the materials for his products and takes pride in the originality of his products. Nonetheless, as they continue to progress, he hopes to train more employees so as to make the most of the business’ production scale.

Their goal for the future is to keep expanding and developing so as to become an international export-level business, especially with the bag production branch of their enterprise, which they hope to focus on more now.

Charlot Bag offers a six month warranty on their products:

6 month Warranty (For Charlot Bags only)

The warranty provided shall be valid only under the grounds mentioned below:

• Where there is a malfunctioning of an accessory in the item including but not limited to zip pullers, hooks, locks, buttons etc.
• Where a specific part/accessory has been detached and the same needs replacement.
• Where discolouration of the material or discolouration of the accessories has occurred.
• Where discolouration of metal accessories has occurred.