Bespoke Atelier
Two textiles postgrad students from Glasgow School of Art have won a prestigious Deutsche Bank Award worth £10k to kick start a new design business.
Yvonne Elliot, 23, Glasgow and Marion Parola, 25, Brittany, France entered the Deutsche Bank Awards while finishing their masters in fashion and textiles at Glasgow School of Art.
They were awarded the £10,000 prize to start a new textiles business plus they will have an expert business mentor for a year and attend an intensive business training course.
The application process involved developing a business plan, followed by a Dragon’s Den style pitch to a panel of five expert judges. Elliot and Parola were recognised for their innovation and entrepreneurship, which brought their artistic excellence to life.
The pair’s new Scottish based company, Bespoke Atelier, will design and print unique textiles for fashion designers in Scotland and beyond. They will produce both short and long fabric runs to suit each customer’s specific requirements and offer a service providing bespoke designed screen printed fabrics at the exact meterage required.
Yvonne Elliot said: “We designed our business to respond to a niche in the market to provide beautiful textiles with the best customer service possible. We are overjoyed that our business idea and approach was recognised as a winning venture and this award is the boost we need to take the next step.
“We are now on the hunt for a studio space as well as buying the necessary equipment to set up our print room, create our first collection and design bespoke prints for clients. It will be busy and we are so looking forward to it!”
Cathy Black, head of textiles at Scottish Enterprise, added: “Winning this award is a fantastic achievement for Yvonne and Marion. Their idea and talent obviously shone through to the judges. This prize will enable them to start, what we hope will be another successful textiles business in Scotland.
“There is an exceptional quality of students coming out of textiles focussed education here in Scotland and this accolade for two of our most recent graduates shows the winning calibre we have. It is now even more important to help young people starting out in industry and it is great that Scottish based talent is shining through.”
Yvonne and Marion will now attend a presentation at the Saatchi Gallery in London along with twelve other winners at the end of June.
Deutsche Bank launched the Deutsche Bank Awards scheme in 1993 to offer practical and financial support to artists, craftspeople, designers and performers to start a business or carry out a project in their crucial first year after leaving college.
The Deutsche Bank Awards operate within 10 arts colleges within the UK.
