DHL Proudly Presents the Third DHL Express Fashion Export Scholarship

DHL, the world's leading express and logistics company, is calling for promising fashion exporters to enter the third DHL Express Fashion Export Scholarship.



The scholarship is designed to identify New Zealand’s hottest up-and-coming fashion exporter and assist them in achieving international growth. It is open to New Zealand fashion designers who have been exporting for less than four years.



Gary Edstein, Senior Vice President, DHL Express Oceania says, "Last year’s scholarship was a great success and the winners, Lonely Hearts, continue to show a competitive drive in expanding their label internationally.”



The winner of the scholarship will receive international freight to the value of NZ$10,000 and coaching in freight and logistics from DHL Express; as well as a tailored export mentoring package from Fashion Industry New Zealand (FINZ) and an annual FINZ membership.



Helene Morris, Lead Designer at Lonely Hearts says the DHL Express Fashion Export Scholarship has helped Lonely Hearts out a huge amount.



“Not only have we been able to use the freight allowance to increase our Australian orders, it also helped us with our expansion into new overseas markets. We were able to hold sales in both Japan and the USA for the first time this year, which was in part made possible by the support DHL Express have given us.



“Having help with freight enabled us to send physical samples to areas where we would previously have only been able to email," says Morris.



Mapihi Opai, Executive Officer FINZ says, “Export is absolutely vital to the future of New Zealand fashion. This scholarship has provided significant opportunities and much needed assistance for fledgling fashion exporters when it was most needed. You can’t underestimate the value of industry specific support, particularly in the current economic climate. We all need to get behind our rising stars.”



Entrants are invited to complete an official application and submit a design portfolio, which will be judged by fashion industry leaders. Entries will be judged across a variety of categories, including design, marketing, business and export.



DHL Express Fashion Export Scholarship opens for entries on Monday, 18 October, 2010, and closes on Friday, 19 November, 2010. Application forms are available from the FINZ website: www.finz.co.nz

ENDS