The British Council has today launched a call for young fashion entrepreneurs in the UK to sign up to its prestigious Young Creative Entrepreneur (YCE) programme.

The inaugural UK Young Fashion Entrepreneur Award (UKYFE), in partnership with the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA), is the latest addition to the British Council’s YCE programme, which focuses on young creative entrepreneurs by celebrating their valuable contribution to the development of a competitive and sustainable creative economy around the world.

Now applicants aged between 25 and 35 years of age with at least three years experience of working within the fashion industry are being called up to get involved in the flagship programme.  The British Council’s aim is to find the most talented young UK fashion entrepreneurs and give them the chance to find out more about the international fashion business in emerging markets.  Candidates must demonstrate their innovation in the UK fashion industry, and have a vision for extending business and cultural relations through fashion.

A group of six finalists will be invited to take part in a specially designed and tailored tour of India’s fashion industry. The tour will provide a real insight into the industry in one of the world’s fastest developing and most dynamic economies. For any creative entrepreneur India’s potential as a market, as a source for new sounds and new talent, cannot be overlooked. The group will meet leading figures from the fashion industry in India, including members of the British Council network of young fashion entrepreneurs and have the chance to learn first hand about how business is done there.

British Council Creative Economy Expert, Andrew Senior, said: ‘The inaugural UKYFE award recognises the best young rising stars who are making waves in the UK fashion industry, offering them the chance to take part in a specially tailored tour of India’s fashion industry. As part of our wider Young Creative Entrepreneur programme, this award connects creative entrepreneurs in the UK with emerging markets around the world.’

‘Of course for fashion, India was the clear choice of country for the international visit, offering the selected finalists invaluable insights into this established industry with huge market potential, and the networks to explore cultural and commercial opportunities there.’

UKYFE is one of five UK Young Creative Entrepreneur (UKYCE) awards that are being presented this year and in 2009; in design, screen, music, publishing and fashion, four of them for the first time.   The UKYCE awards programme is a sibling to our established ongoing International Young Creative Entrepreneur award programme, in 9 sectors across the creative industries, through which finalists from nearly 50 emerging economies around the world have as yet taken part in a tour of their creative sector in the UK, making invaluable international connections. 

The finalists of the UKYFE award will be announced on 24 October 2008 with the tour to India taking place in the first two weeks of December.