As the national winner of IYFEY 2008, I gained much recognition and prestige for my brand and for me personally as well. Especially in the eyes of the apparel industry, the fashion industry, and the government. Winning this award has opened many doors for me. I received a lot of media publicity and made new contacts with the British Council, the Hirdaramani Group etc.
The UK tour was very well organized by the team at the British Council London and I along with the other 9 international winners had many meetings and tours organized by the British Council which were highly beneficial. Such as:
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opportunity to visit the London Fashion week, a much sought after affair in the fashion industry throughout the world. Tickets are not available for sale but one has to be invited to the event. I attended 5 shows |
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an audience with Sir Paul Smith, one of the most successful designers in the UK. We were able to talk to him and question him on his outlook on fashion, life, and the success of his business. In the words of Sir Paul Smith 'It’s important for a designer to have a child-like mind but not a childish mind'. His business has a 'solid foundation with longevity, because it was not about pretending to be 'anything else' |
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visited Paul Smith flagship store and his workshop where we got to meet his design and development teams |
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met Helen Storey, one of the well-known names in the 90’s fashion scene in the UK. Had the opportunity to talk to her about her current project of biodegradable fashion, which is a very inspiring thought in today’s world |
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attended a seminar conducted by Catherine Hamnette, a popular name in ‘green’ fashion. She is an active designer in the field of environmentally friendly fashion, which is a very big area that the European market is looking into |
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Design Forum: They gave us a very detailed presentation on exactly how to approach a buyer—what to do and what not to do…. |
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meeting with the London Development Agency and the Fashion Business Resource Studio at the London College of Fashion: advice on various aspects of fashion and on the UK fashion business |
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tour of Selfridges with their visual merchandiser, with an emphasis on the aspects they look at when changing their shop windows and how often they do it etc |
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visit to the world’s largest fashion store, Top Shop, their offices and a tour and a meeting with their merchandiser on their trends and developments to finished garments on the shop floor |
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the Finalist from Lebanon, Sarah of Sarah Bags, and I are doing developments on batik fabric for her bags line |
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Rabia, finalist from Dubai wants to develop a range of batik shawls with me for her clothing line |
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Deli, the Indonesian finalist is helping me source bag manufacturers from his country, which will offer me a good opportunity to work with various types of bag manufacturers for our batik line |
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Liz, a lady I met through the Design Council in Nottingham is helping me find an agent in the UK for my products |
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I met one of the oldest and most established lace manufacturers at the Nottingham Trent University showcase. I’m working on a range of lace shawls with tie dye and batik for their collection |
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a lot of first-hand experience and advice from business entrepreneurs in the UK |
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meeting with the London College of Fashion on getting graduates and lecturers to do projects in collaboration with my business |
In between all the business meetings and educational tours, we had a lot of fun with the other participants and people we met. I met people in various aspects of the fashion industry and made a lot of contacts and some good friends too. It was an experience of a lifetime. It was indeed an invaluable experience that any young entrepreneur would strive for.
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