International Young Fashion Entrepreneur of the Year 2008 award
Competition & Award information and application
procedure for Sri Lanka:
The British Council
announces the launch of the inaugural International Young Fashion
Entrepreneur of the Year (IYFEY) 2008 award - to champion and celebrate
the importance of creative entrepreneurs working in the field of
fashion.
The British Council's goal is to showcase innovation in fashion
promotion using the UK as the nexus for cultural, creative and
commercial exchange.
The Sri Lankan winner will be one of
ten international finalists: and will Contend for the title
of International Young Fashion Entrepreneur of the Year (IYFEY) 2008
award alongside 9 other finalists from around the world.
Fashion sector definition
For the purpose of this award participants can be drawn from any of
the following areas of the fashion business:
. Fashion, textile, accessories or perfume design and production
. Fashion promotion: shows, exhibitions, festivals, events
. Fashion retail: buying, merchandising
. Fashion product research, sourcing, supply chain management
. Fashion marketing, PR, branding, journalism
. Fashion publishing, communications, websites.
We recognise that a participant may strongly influence the business
of fashion without being a practising fashion designer.
Definition of a creative entrepreneur
For the purpose of this award programme we are defining creative
entrepreneurs as follows:
. Somebody working in the fashion industry (as defined above) who is
able to demonstrate business success in the classic terms of business
growth (profit, market share, employees) and/or in terms of their
reputation (quality and aesthetic) amongst their peers.
. Somebody working in the fashion industry (as defined above) who has
developed a successful (in terms of impact and reach) social or
not-for-profit enterprise in this sector.
. Somebody working in the fashion industry (as defined above) who has
shown leadership in the industry by championing its development in their
country.
. Somebody working in the fashion industry (as defined above) who has
developed initiatives (exhibitions, trade fairs, educational
courses/institutions etc.) that develop and grow the market for the
fashion in their country.
IYFEY 2008 Sri Lanka award - The
application process:
Eligibility
A participant must:
. Be aged between 25 and 35 (minimum 25 & maximum 35 by 1 February
2008)
. Already work in the fashion sector (as defined above)
. Be entrepreneurial and have shown their ability in the promotion of
the fashion business in their country, in either a commercial context,
public context, or both.
. Through their character, drive and abilities demonstrate their
potential to be a future leader of the sector in their country.
. Have English language skills to IELTS 6 - 'competent user' or
above.
Timeline
Application forms will be
available to download - www.britishcouncil.org/srilanka
. 1 October 2007 -
Deadline for applications to reach the British Council.
. Week of 15 October 2007
- selection committee to short-list 10 applicants.
. Week of 22 October 2007 - finalists
will be interviewed and asked to make a presentation about their work
and vision for Sri Lanka's fashion industry to a judging panel.
. 1 November 2007 - the National
winner to be announced and the winner's name and details to be submitted
to British Council UK for consideration for IYFEY 2008 UK award.
. February 2008 - National winner leaves for the UK for tour (dates
TBC dependent on dates of London Fashion Week, which are currently still
being decided).
The Award
The National winner will be:
. Showcased at the Colombo Fashion Weekend in November 2007
. Given an all expenses paid trip to the UK to compete for the IYFEY
'international' title.
. Presentation Skills training prior to leaving for the UK (if
necessary).
To coincide with a new British
Council UK award
IYFEY is the latest in a series of International Young Creative
Entrepreneur (IYCE) awards, joining established awards for the
International Young Publisher of the Year (IYPY); the International
Young Design Entrepreneur of the Year (IYDEY) and the International
Young Music Entrepreneur of the Year (IYMEY) and an upcoming award for
entrepreneurs in the film/TV business. To date 33 countries have
participated in the UK programme.
National winner's UK Programme
In early February 2008 (dates TBC) the finalists will arrive in the
UK for a 10-12 day tour of the UK national fashion industry.
This programme, which will be created with UK partners, will take
them to London and at least one other UK region/city (tentatively
Yorkshire/Leeds or the 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. It will also include a
master-class with Sir Paul Smith (www.paulsmith.co.uk) during which the
finalists will be able to question him about the development of his
highly successful fashion business.
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.
Details are TBC but during IYFEY we anticipate finalists will:
. Be promoted at a British Council space in a London Fashion Week's
exhibition.
. Be included in an exhibition of fashion design from the 10 emerging
markets represented in IYFEY - tentatively to be shown in prominent
retail windows in London and/or another UK city.
. Participate in the IYFEY award ceremony, where the inaugural award
winner will be announced.
As mentioned specifically this will include attendance at events at:
London Fashion Week (Feb 2008) 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 bi-annual showcase for
British designer fashion.
LFW includes catwalk shows and a trade exhibition as well as the
world's leading new designer sponsorship scheme. New Generation. The
latest LFW version, in February 2007, demonstrated once again that
London is one of the world's most vibrant and creative capitals, and saw
the largest ever attendance of UK buyers, international press,
photographers and broadcast crews.
The 49 designers on the catwalk and 200 designers in the exhibition
attracted over 400 photographers and broadcast crews, who were
accredited to cover the event.
We are in discussion with the BFC to determine how IYFEY could fit in
their LFW programme, our aim is to find a place within their schedule to
promote the award, secure passes for the finalists and create the awards
ceremony as an event in LFW's calendar.
Presentation of work
We are also in discussion with other Fashion contacts and partners
about the opportunity of using shop windows in London and or/another UK
city to showcase fashion designs from the participating countries.
The precise details of this opportunity are still being discussed and
negotiated. Our aim is to create an opportunity to showcase a piece of
work from each participating country, work that has not previously been
seen or licensed in the UK.
Judging Process in the UK for the
IYFEY 2008 award
The IYFEY judging process will take place during the UK tour. The
judges will include Susanne Tide-Frater (former Creative Director at
Selfridges and Harrods). All of the finalists will be interviewed and
asked to make a presentation about their work and vision for their
country's fashion industry to a judging panel of elite members of
leading UK fashion entrepreneurs.
The winner will be chosen on this basis. A full brief about the
judging procedure and criteria will be provided to all officers,
finalists, and judges in due course.
Award
The winner of the award of International Young Fashion Entrepreneur
of the Year will be announced at an awards ceremony during the UK visit.
Their prize is a financial award (7,500 sterling pounds), which must
be linked to the UK and tailored to the winner's specific needs. Ideas
include for him/her to take a course in the UK, fund a placement in UK
industry, bring over UK specialists to run workshops in-country, or work
on collaborative projects with contacts from their visit to the UK.
The winner will be encouraged to come up with their own proposal, and
both the local British Council office and the specialist art form
departments in London will be involved in the process of agreeing how
the prize money should be spent.
Wrap around activity to ensure
programme reach and sustainability
To maximise the potential of this programme we will build into it a
series of media opportunities and activities. As a competition in which
the winner has the opportunity to visit one of the leading global
creative economy hubs, the programme has significant media potential.
Similarly, once our national winner returns home, we will build into
the programme a series of interviews and seminars which will be
delivered by the finalist; with a view to sharing his/her experience as
widely as possible.
Make the winner an 'iconic' figure who young people would want to
emulate and enhance our selection process for future years and reach out
further into our local-creative entrepreneur community.
Ownership of the award
The award has been created by the British Council and all
intellectual property rights relating to the award will be vested in the
British Council. The British Council will be free to negotiate with
third parties for sponsorship of the award, or in any other way,
including title sponsorship for the award.
We aim to find sponsorship for the programme and to involve UK
industry in both the development of the UK tour and the judging of the
award.
British Council,
www.britishcouncil.org/srilanka |