MTN, in conjunction with Style House Files and the British Council Nigeria, has announced the winner of the MTN/British Council Young Creative Entrepreneur for 2012 in the person of Isoken Ogiemwonyi, co-founder of retail store L'Espace based in Lagos. The announcement came on the heels of a rigorous selection exercise conducted by a high calibre team of judges under strict rules and conditions; and following a successful audition exercise which took place at Dennis Hotel, Port Harcourt; Le Meridien Hotel, Abuja and the British Council Office in Lagos between August 8 and 13, 2012Having emerged the winner of the MTN LFDW YCE 2012, Ogiemwonyi will receive a cash reward of N2, 000,000 courtesy of MTN to be presented to her at the MTN LFDW show this month.In addition to this, she has just returned from a tour of London Fashion Week and the UK fashion industry on the bill of the British Council. The London event also hosted 30 other Young Creative Entrepreneurs from different parts of the world. The essence of the tour, according to the organisers, was to avail her of the much needed exposure, connections and links to actualise her dream of opening retail outlets in fashion capitals like New York, Paris, London and Milan, in addition to making her brand truly global.While congratulating her, the General Manager, Consumer Marketing, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Kola Oyeyemi, said that in addition to announcing the winner of MTN/British Council Young Creative Entrepreneur for 2012, MTN and its partners have also made public the names of the 12 young designers who will feature in its high profile fashion and design event, the MTN Lagos Fashion and Design Week (MTNLFDW) this month.The shortlisted young designers include: Karen Jacob, Kehinde Osotimehin, Wana Sambo, Adebayo Oke Lawal, Jennifer Adighije, Uju Offiah, Buchi Okoro, Wisdom Anaba, Joseph Uduminue, Isi Atagamen, Agu Anumudu and Ponmile Olawoye.Speaking on the MTN LFDW2012 awards Ojoma Ochai, Assistant Country Manager at British Council said: 'One of the main aims of the programme is to act as a launch pad to build future business for promising creative entrepreneurs. We are confident that Isoken and the L'Epsace team are innovators in the Nigerian retailer sector and have a clear vision and direction, this is one of the reasons we selected her.In her remarks at the exhibition, Omoyemi Akerele founder of LFDW said:'Lagos Fashion and Design week is all about making an impact, the idea is to move beyond innovation and transform African brands to household names worldwide. The invitation to Milan Fashion Week for these designers is a significant milestone, one that is bound to catapult them into the international fashion industry,' she said.The LFDW week also returned to Milan during the Milan Fashion week to exhibit the Rhythm of Africa collective at the Touch Neo Zone Cloud Nine exhibition hosted by Pitti Immagine. The designers this year included: MO SA'QUE a footwear designer from Ghana, Adle Dejak an accessories designer from Kenya, Jewel By Lisa, Pitti Imagine W alumni and women's wear designer from Nigeria, Pearl XGH from Ghana, Okapi Handbags from South Africa, and Tebazile Jewellery from Nigeria.Nigerian label Jewel by Lisa was also selected by Vogue Italia in the 'Who is Next' Vogue Talent exhibition which hosts the next big names in fashion from the LFDW platform.
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