The Young Fashion Entrepreneur (YFE) 2010 award is a British Council initiative in partnership with the Centre of Creative Enterprise that seeks to champion and celebrate the importance of creative entrepreneurs in the 25 to 35 age category working in the field of fashion.

Applicants were drawn from various areas of the fashion field including- fashion textile, accessories production and design, fashion promotion, fashion education, fashion marketing, fashion event promotion etc. recognizing that an applicant may strongly influence the business of fashion without being a practicing fashion designer. Excellent English Language skills were a must.

Out of the eleven applications received, the short-listing panel comprising Sahran Abeysundara (interior decorator and events manager), Ajith Dias (specialist in textile and clothing and a Fellow of the Textile Institute, UK), Carmel Kelly (Principal Lecturer and International Project Coordinator London College of Fashion), Ranmali Mirchandani (Manager Programme Delivery - British Council), Adam Pushkin, (Regional Head of Arts, British Council India/Sri Lanka), Dilani Wijesekera (Director/Designer Dilly’s) shortlisted 5 candidates based mainly on their written applications supported by additional evidence of their entrepreneurial skill and ability.

The shortlisted candidates are:

			Anjuli Flamer-Caldera Director Bubble Events Pvt. Ltd (Fashion Lifestyles Events organiser)
			Terrin Gabbalage Managing Director/Designer, Wedding Dreams
			Chathuri Samaraweera Managing Director, Anaya International Pvt Ltd
			Fahad Sheriff Director, MF Retail Ltd
			Govinda Tidball – Director Sarakiel Pvt Ltd & CEO Community Concern Society

For the final interview, the shortlisted candidates were given an opportunity to make a short presentation expanding on their written application and addressing questions related to market awareness, vision and ambition and their desire to develop mutually beneficial engagement with the UK.

The final judging panel comprised of:

			Gill Westaway Country Director British Council Sri Lanka
			Kumar Mirchandani Chairman, Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters Association (SLEA) and Chairman Marketing & Image Building Committee, Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF). A graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, USA
			Tom Bewick Founding chief executive of Creative & Cultural Skills, the UK-wide sector skills council for advertising, crafts, design, cultural heritage, music and the arts. Under his leadership, the organisation has developed the first formal Creative Apprenticeships; won approval to build a £15 million state-of-the-art National Skills Academy in Thurrock, Thames Gateway, and launched a pioneering careers and leadership portal, Creative Choices.
			Anoma Wijewardena Artist and Designer. Studied art extensively and obtained her BA and MA at Central St Martin's College of Art, UK. She went on to lecture there and having exhibited in the UK, Australia, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka and won several awards, is a recognized name in art circles

Chathuri Samaraweera, Managing Director, Anaya International Pvt Ltd, was chosen by the judging panel as the winner of the Young Fashion Entrepreneur (YFE) 2010 award and it was announced at the launch of the Sri Lanka Design Festival on Friday 27 November 2009 at the Mt. Lavinia Hotel.

Chathuri as the National Winner, competed alongside 8 other winners from around the world for the international title of Young Fashion Entrepreneur (YFE) 2010 award which was held in London in February 2010. Please click here to access the National Winners report on the UK experience.

The Centre for Creative Enterprise was the project partner for the award and the electronic media sponsors were Channel 1 MTV and YES FM and our print media sponsors were Daily Mirror and Sunday Times.