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UK Fashion Export Awards showcase healthy market
Orla Kiely and French Connection among prize winners
The UK Fashion Export Awards have once again demonstrated the strength of the UK fashion market, with the 10 winners driving healthy sales growth of British clothing and accessories overseas.
Among the ten winners receiving awards from HRH The Princess Royal in London were Orla Kiely, one of London's leading designers, and high-street retailer French Connection.The awards mark success and support performance in the fashion apparel export sector, which is worth £3bn annually. This year's winners sold £93.3m of goods abroad between them in 2003, up by 16.48 per cent from 2002. This marks a strong recovery from 2001, when winners' sales abroad grew by o
Paul Alger, executive director, UK Fashion Exports, said: "These figures put pay to critics who think that UK fashion doesn't cut it in the international arena.
"Quirky and classic British fashions have unique appeal to consumers throughout the world and sell well thanks to good quality and great design. Many of the winners produce their goods in the UK, supporting our home-grown skills base and British clothing manufacturers."
High-street fashion retailer French Connection scoops the Gold Award, which is sponsored by The Royal Bank of Scotland, in recognition of its consistent export performance over the last three years. French Connection has more than 1,500 outlets worldwide in 25 countries, and exports account for 25per cent of its sales.
David Whitlock, managing director of sponsor The Royal Bank of Scotland, said: "We are delighted to sponsor the awards again this year and recognise the efforts of the finalists as they seek new opportunities and markets for their products.
"Overseas markets are an important aspect of the fashion industry, and with such developments as the recent enlargement of the EU, it will be interesting to see how these new opportunities develop."
The strongest sales growth is shown by Net-a-Porter, winner of the E-tailer Award. It has doubled sales each year since its launch in June 2000 and has maintained more than 50per cent of its sales outside its UK base. According to research company IMRG, online sales of fashion have accelerated by 476 per cent in the last three years and this is reflected in the rise in e-tail sales experienced by all the companies that entered this category.
Two new awards are Export Buyer, which acknowledges an individual who has boosted British fashion sales overseas, and Small Business, for firms less than two years old with an annual turnover of below £250,000. Winners of these awards are, respectively, Gail Sackloff of AMC, a UK-based buyer for the New York store Saks, and Quinton & Chadwick, creators of funky, individual British knitwear.
Other award winners are, for Menswear, BMB Baracuta, maker of the iconic Harrington G9 style jacket favoured by Steve McQueen; for Womenswear, Aftershock, for its collections featuring intricate beadwork; and for Childrenswear, Banner, which targets independent retailers with seven distinct collections.
The prizes this year comprise £1,000 of FedEx consignments and free space at a number of trade exhibitions both in the UK and overseas, including Pure London and Lyon Mode City in France. The Awards are sponsored by The Royal Bank of Scotland, FedEx, Marks & Spencer, UK Trade & Investment, and trade magazine Drapers.
Tagged as: UK Fashion Export Awards
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