Member Article

Help for Young Entrepreneurs at Graduate Fashion Week

Graduate Fashion Week, the world’s leading showcase for graduating fashion talent, has teamed up with StartUp Britain and Barclays Bank to provide support and mentoring for budding entrepreneurs attending the event this year.

The organisers have added entrepreneurial support to the event for the very first time after recognising the growing trend for starting a business, with a 50 per cent increase in early stage entrepreneurial activity in the 18 to 29 age group over the past five years. With the vast majority of the 25,000 guests attending GFW in this age group entrepreneurship has become an important area.

StartUp Britain’s co-founder Emma Jones will be hosting a session every day at the four day event, talking to fledgling fashion entrepreneurs and covering topics including How to Set Up a Pop-Up Shop, Start-Up Loans & Mentoring and How to set up a fashion and textile business from home.

Launched in 2011, StartUp Britain is a national enterprise campaign by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs to celebrate, inspire and accelerate enterprise in the UK.

Emma Jones said: “We are delighted to be working with Graduate Fashion Week this year. We know that there is no shortage of British fashion talent, but many brilliant designers fail to reach their potential because they don’t get adequate and specific help to start a business. We want to help graduates realise that they can start a business and that they can be in charge of their own destiny – however big or small their ambitions may be.”

Martyn Roberts, events director said: “We’ve noticed over the past few years that more and more students are asking for help with starting up on their own. I think that this is down to a number of factors including the overall economy and an increasing desire to become their own boss and be in charge of their own destiny.”

“Fashion is an industry in which individuality is a big positive and there is great potential for people to set up their own businesses. With all the support on offer at Graduate Fashion Week this should become easier and help this important age group get a great start.”

Graduate Fashion Week entrepreneurs have also been invited to take over the newly opened PopUp Britain, flagship pop-up shop on London’s King’s Road later this year, giving up to 12 new designers the opportunity to meet their customers, find out what people think about their products and work with fellow entrepreneurs to get a physical feel for the retail landscape.

PopUp Britain is the retail arm of StartUp Britain and has so far launched six PopUp Britain shops across the country since July 2012 and was launched to as an initiative to fill empty shops, give local businesses a boost and offer the British shopper a new experience and a chance to support the British economy.

STATISTICS:

• 484, 211 businesses started last year - a 3% increase on 2011

• 50% increase in the number of young people engaged in early stage entrepreneurial activity since 2008

• 29% rise in businesses started by 18 to 29-year-olds in 2012

• 60% all new businesses started at home

This year’s Graduate Fashion Week event finishes tomorrow at Earls Court 2, London, with 40 of the finest of the UK’s fashion education establishments participating and 16 from oversees.

Showcasing the very best talent from the UK’s premier fashion and design universities, Graduate Fashion Week is one of the most un-missable events on the calendar for both the international fashion contingent and the general fashion loving public. This year the event celebrates 22 years of British trained fashion talent passing through its doors.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Liz Slee .