News

Monday 26 February 2007

Priya has competition wrapped up!

A Nottingham Trent University graduate has taken India’s creative industry by storm after winning India’s Creative Future 2007. Priya Patil, 27, who is currently working as a freelance stylist, took the prestigious title with her innovative, hi-fashion wraps and scarves. She beat 19 other finalists covering the gamut of creative industry disciplines, including filmmaking, art, music and photography.

Pioneered by the British Council in partnership with the Commonwealth Business Council, Creative Future is designed to nurture the skills of young Indian creative entrepreneurs. The competition originally received over 1,100 applications with 20 finalists short listed, based on the innovation and commercial viability of their business proposals.

During the last year, the young entrepreneurs have been able to hone their entrepreneurial skills through the Creative Future programme which included a period at the Creative Future School - held at the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore. The final two days of the competition saw them pitching their business ideas to a select panel of judges chaired by Andrew Senior, Head of Creative Industries at the British Council.

Priya decided to concentrate on the accessory market after completing her MA at Nottingham Trent University in 2004. Her collection of scarves and wraps won top prize through the innovative use of textile and Priya has already received a number of business enquiries from around the world.

She said: “I am absolutely overwhelmed to have won such a prestigious prize, particularly as the competition set such a high standard.

“My time at Nottingham Trent University helped me to focus my thoughts on where I could make a real difference in the fashion industry, this win will hopefully open up a few more doors for me! I am absolutely passionate about my products and I think this is what shone through when I made my final presentations.”

Priya was presented with a specially commissioned glass bowl and £3000. She will be in the UK in May to take part in the launch of the British Council’s 2007/08 award programme for young creative entrepreneurs.

Carol Jones, Academic Team Leader at Nottingham Trent University’s School of Art and Design, said: “Priya’s win is so well deserved. When she came to this university she was able to develop a range of contemporary knitwear accessories using our unique knitting technology and resources, and even then had a keen eye for what the market wanted. She’s obviously progressed these skills even further and we look forward to seeing her get the worldwide recognition she so clearly deserves.”

Andrew Senior said: Priya is a worthy winner of India’s Creative Future 2007 but it was a close race. Priya and her fellow finalists show that, in the next ten years, we won’t be talking about India in the context of software houses, call centres and opportunities to outsource. India has a truly creative soul but it also has young people like Priya, who can take their creative skills and develop them into a winning business proposition.

“The opportunity for the UK is in partnership and collaboration; Priya has a connection with the UK through her time at Nottingham Trent University. Her participation in the British Council Creative Future programme has taken this to a new level and reinforced her understanding of contemporary UK as a vibrant hub in the global creative economy.”

ENDS

For more information please contact: Dave Rogers, Press Officer, on Tel: 0115 848 8782, or via email: dave.rogers@ntu.ac.uk

or Therese Easom, Press and Media Relations Manager, on Tel: 0115 848 8774, or via email: therese.easom@ntu.ac.uk

For further information about the Creative Future programme, please contact press officer, Antony Watson, on 0207 389 4872 or e-mail antony.watson@britishcouncil.org

Creative Future is a mentoring programme that intends to empower creative generators with entrepreneurial skills. The idea-to-investment transitional project is designed to boost India’s flourishing creative export market. The British Council programme was developed in partnership with the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, Creative Industries Development Agency, UK, leading UK experts and the Commonwealth Business Council. The Creative Future School has been developed by independent UK expert Lee Corner, Sian Prime of NESTA and Professor Ramnath Narayanswamy of the IIMB for the British Council