Kasuni Rathnasuriya wins YFE Award 2011

Kasuni Rathnasuriya was awarded the Young Fashion Entrepreneur (YFE) Award 2011 at the Sri Lanka Design Festival (SLDF) recently.

The YFE 2011 Award is a British Council initiative offered in partnership with the Sri Lanka Design Festival, 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, and fashion publishing.

Of the many applications received, three candidates were short-listed based mainly on their written applications and supported by additional evidence of their entrepreneurial skill and ability. The short-listed candidates were Ahamed Barry, Sandun De Silva, and Kasuni Rathnasuriya.

For the final interview, the short-listed 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 a mutually beneficial engagement with the UK.

The final judging panel for the YFE Award 2011 comprised Managing Director Favourite Group and garment industry representative Kumar Mirchandani, Head Creative Economy British Council India and Sri Lanka Rwituja Mookherjee; and Country Director British Council Sri Lanka Tony Reilly.