Every season, New York Fashion Week offers more than just clothes. It’s a mood, a statement, a cultural pulse check. The September shows will be no exception. Amid the chaos of fittings, late-night rehearsals, and front-row spectacle, an unexpected player is entering the conversation: tea. And not just any tea — Térapy Ceylon, a luxury wellness brand rooted in Sri Lanka’s centuries-old tea heritage and the ancient science of Ayurveda.
This September, Térapy Ceylon will make its debut at NYFW 2025, powered by Runway 7. For a brand that blends heritage with wellness, and tradition with modernity, the runway offers a stage like no other. Fashion, after all, isn’t just about what we wear — it’s about how we live.
A Different Kind of Luxury
The presence of a tea brand at Fashion Week may raise eyebrows, but it also makes perfect sense. Wellness has become the new luxury. What we put into our bodies matters as much as the fabrics draped across them. Térapy Ceylon stands at that intersection, with blends that marry Pure Ceylon tea to herbs like gotukola, ranawara, blue butterfly pea, and garcinia cambogia. In the fast-moving, high-pressure world of fashion, where adrenaline can edge out balance, a cup of calming, restorative tea feels less like an indulgence and more like survival.
Founder Ruvinika Ranasinghe sees the NYFW invitation as more than a brand milestone. “Ayurveda has always celebrated balance, beauty, and vitality,” she says. “By bringing these ancient herbs into the luxury wellness category, we are reintroducing a timeless tradition to a global audience that values both self-care and sophistication.”
It’s a bold statement. And yet, it lands in perfect harmony with fashion’s current obsession with ritual and mindfulness.
The Ritual of the Runway
Runway 7, the production company hosting over 160 shows per season, has built a reputation for spotlighting cultural moments alongside couture. By partnering with Térapy Ceylon, they’re leaning into the idea that backstage rituals such as a sip of tea and a moment of grounding are just as essential to the artistry of fashion as the clothes themselves.
Packaging, too, plays a role. Térapy Ceylon’s slide-out drawer boxes and biodegradable tea bags nod to the sleek aesthetics and sustainable mindset now demanded of luxury brands. Much like a carefully cut dress or hand-stitched accessory, the details here matter. Fashion Week attendees will find themselves not just holding a cup of tea but participating in a larger narrative.
Sri Lanka Meets the Runway
For Sri Lanka, a country where tea is both an export and a cultural identity, Térapy Ceylon’s presence at NYFW is a moment of visibility. It carries echoes of plantations on misty hillsides, the wisdom of Ayurveda, and the resilience of a heritage industry stepping into new contexts. For New York, it’s another example of how Fashion Week continues to evolve, expanding beyond hemlines and silhouettes to embrace broader conversations about culture, lifestyle, and global influence.
The symbolism is striking: a centuries-old practice, poured into a porcelain cup, handed to the next generation of designers and models sprinting between shows. It’s East meets West, heritage meets high fashion, wellness meets spectacle.
A Future Where Fashion Sips Slowly
Whether Térapy Ceylon’s teas become a fixture in the fashion world remains to be seen. But its presence this September signals something larger — a shift in how fashion understands itself.
At New York Fashion Week, the spotlight often shines brightest on the unexpected. This year, amid the flashbulbs and fabric swirls, it may just be the quiet steam rising from a cup of Sri Lankan tea that captures the moment.
New York Fashion Week (NYFW) events are happening from September 11-13, 2025.
