Young Fashion Entrepreneur of Turkey awarded to
Gunseli Turkay!
The winner of the British Council’s Young Fashion Entrepreneur Competition was announced on 8 December at an award ceremony held at the British Consulate, Istanbul. The Competition was run in partnership with Istanbul Moda Academy (IMA).
The International Young Fashion Entrepreneur Award (IYFE) country final was held for the first time this year in Turkey. IYFE is a British Council award that seeks to champion and celebrate the importance of creative entrepreneurs working in the field of fashion. For this purpose, 8 short listed finalists presented their experiences in fashion entrepreneurship and their future plans to the jury that included Ayse Ege (Founder of Dice Kayek), Ceren Erdem (Arts & Creative Economy Manager, British Council), Eda Dorman (Head of Academic Studies, IMA), Hafize Celikturk (Fashion Editor, Elle Turkey) ve Seda Lafci (Director, IMA).
Ayse Ege stated that Gunseli Turkay won the title “Young Fashion Entrepreneur of the Year, Turkey” mainly for her strategic plan to build up her own brand name. After graduated from Economics at Middle East Technical University, Turkay studied fashion in Italy and then she founded her own fashion design brand called Pasaj Istanbul. Turkay also works as a brand consultant for local and international brands; she is also designing collections for Zara, Best Seller and Topshop. -
Turkay, also launched her first collection under her own name “Gunseli Turkay” for Spring Summer 2010 at Istanbul fashion Days in August 2009. It was a collection of dresses with abstract paintings of young painters. She already started selling the dresses in Lebanon, Italy and London.
In February 2010, Turkay will attend the 2-week tour of the UK national fashion industry with 8 finalists coming from different countries and participate in the IYFE Award ceremony, where the international winner will be announced. Finalists will also attend the London Fashion Week and will be able to attend some shows at London Fashion Week as well as to visit the static exhibition, and the award will be presented in a space in the LFW exhibition.
As a result of her entrepreneurial skill in sustainable textile products, Seray Cengiz was awarded the special prize by IMA. The Director of IMA, Seda Lafci stated that they are going to provide her scholarship for one of the programmes according to her needs at IMA.
In February 2010, the 9 finalists will arrive in the UK for a 2-week tour of the UK national fashion industry. This programme, which will be created with UK partners, will take the finalists to London and at least one other UK region/city (East Midlands/Nottingham) to meet leaders of the fashion sector. The tour will comprise visits, meetings, seminars and events and shows as part of London Fashion Week.
The programme will be tailored to the finalists’ interests, and include both a group itinerary for the finalists to get a shared overview of the best of the UK fashion scene and specific meetings to introduce finalists to UK contacts of particular interest to them for commercial or collaborative purposes. During the tour, finalists will attend London Fashion Week, take part in a showcase opportunity to promote innovative work from their country which they feel is appropriate for the UK and wider international market and participate in the IYFE Award ceremony, where the award winner will be announced.
London Fashion Week (February 2010) www.londonfashionweek.co.uk
LFW is run by the British Fashion Council (BFC), the official voice of the designer fashion industry. It aims, with the help of industry benefactors, to promote British fashion design worldwide. London Fashion Week is now established as one of London's premier events, attracting a target audience of key fashion leaders, retailers and press who attend this biannual showcase for British designer fashion.
The IYFE finalists will be able to attend some shows at London Fashion Week as well as to visit the static exhibition, and the award will be presented in a space in the LFW exhibition.
Istanbul Moda Academy
Istanbul Moda Academy (IMA) was founded as part of the Fashion and Textile Cluster Project, organized and financed by the European Union, under Secretariat of Foreign Trade and Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporters’ Associations (İTKİB). Academy aims at developing the Turkish textile and apparel industry, offering its services at the renovated Sadrazam Sait Paşa Konağı, now furnished with cutting-edge technologies, in Nişantaşı, the heart of Turkish fashion. IMA commenced its educational programs at the beginning of 2008 with courses in fashion design, fashion product development and technology, fashion photography and media, fashion management and marketing in collaboration with the world’s leading fashion schools: London College of Fashion, Domus Academy (Italy), and IFM (France). The staff consists of foreign and local trainers who train fashion professionals of the future through professional development programs and academic programs focusing on the industry.
www.istanbulmodaacademy.com
For your questions please send an e-mail to arts.info@britishcouncil.org.tr
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