35 Under 35: Building a Special Editorial Edition
The Concept
A special Cosmopolitan Sri Lanka edition celebrating 35 women under 35 who were challenging convention and making an impact across their fields.
Role: Editor-in-Chief
Publication: Cosmopolitan Sri Lanka
Scope: Editorial concept · Research · Curation · Interviews · Writing · Editing · Production
The Editorial Idea
The idea grew from a gap I observed in the way young women were being represented locally: despite making meaningful contributions across their industries, women in their 20s and 30s were often treated as emerging rather than accomplished.
I wanted the issue to challenge that assumption by putting their work, ambition, and stories at the centre.
The Editorial Structure
To give the edition a clear editorial structure, I organised the 35 profiles into four thematic groups: Builders, Innovators, Activists and Rulebreakers.
Cover and Editor's Letter
Selected Profiles
BUILDER - Randhula De Silva
Building spaces where ideas, people and possibility can grow.
INNOVATOR - Yusra Aziz
Changing the way women work, connect and tell their stories.
ACTIVIST - Sharanya Sekaram
Challenging the systems that shape whose voices are heard.
RULEBREAKER - Anoka Abeyrathne
Refusing to follow the expected path, and making her own way forward.
Videos
View the playlist for the interviews here.
The project became a dedicated special edition of Cosmopolitan Sri Lanka, extending beyond print into photography and video to create a larger editorial package around the 35 individuals.
0 likes · 26 views · Jun 6, 2023
A special Cosmopolitan Sri Lanka edition celebrating 35 women challenging convention, with their stories, ambition and ideas at the heart of the issue.
