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Wednesday, 08 February 2006

Fashion entrepreneur awarded honorary MBE

A FASHION entrepreneur who founded her own company and helps support young designers predominately in disadvantaged communities has been awarded an honorary MBE by Trade and Industry Secretary Alan Johnson.

The award to Doreen Adusei was made on behalf of the Queen and is in recognition of Ms Adusei’s services to fashion design and small clothing manufacturing companies.

Ms Adusei, a Ghanaian citizen, is the founder and creative director of Fashionworks, an Islington-based organisation providing mentoring and advice to fashion designers and clothing manufacturers in the Islington and Hackney areas. She was honoured for the support she provides to young fashion design companies, especially those run by ethnic minorities.

Presenting the award at a special ceremony at Lancaster House in London, Alan Johnson said: “You have made an outstanding contribution to the fashion design and clothing industry for more than 20 years.

“Your wish to combine your creative and academic skills with giving something back to the community, particularly disadvantaged communities, led to the Fashionworks initiative in 1994. With the backing of the Islington Enterprise Agency and funding from the public and private sector, you continue to provide a unique source of design, technical and production consultancy and support to the industry.

“Your personal commitment to this enterprise has been impressive. You have delivered more than 200 projects and pioneered a new kind of practical knowledge transfer, which has been both beneficial for the industry and the local communities of Hackney and Islington.”

Ms Adusei left the Royal College of Art with a Masters degree then went on to design and oversee the production of collections for Hennes, Harvey Nichols and Liberties. She developed her forecasting and predicting skills at Courtaulds and went on to become a lecturer in fashion design and illustration at Loughborough University.

Ms Adusei founded Fashionworks in 1994. The non-profit-making consultancy, which is sponsored by the European Union and the London Development Agency and other business support organisations, has conducted more than 200 projects since its inception. It is based in the Islington Enterprise Agency.

For Ms Adusei's biography, see the LFF Online website.