Vincentian Designer Kimya Glasgow recently completed a 2 month course on the Business and Law of Fashion held between April 20 and June 15, 2018.
The course was funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) through the Caribbean Regional Entrepreneurial Asset Commercialization Hub (REACH) Creative Industries Programme, which seeks to foster innovation and competitiveness in Caribbean Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by assisting companies in commercializing their intellectual assets.
The Business and Law of Fashion course was facilitated by Intellect Management Services Incorporated (IMS), a Barbadian consultancy firm, focused on all aspects of the creative industries, including Rights Management, Licensing and Commercialisation Strategies, Business plan design, Training and capacity building, Advisory services and Royalty rates determination.
The stated objective of the Business and Law course is “to build the commercialisation capabilities of 20 creative entrepreneurs in fashion and design through training and mentorship which will enhance their capacity to identify, manage and monetise their intellectual property (IP) and creative content”.
Ms. Glasgow was selected, along with 21 other participants to take part in the programme, which was made up a series of live online sessions, conducted by international and regional experts in the fields of Business Law and the global and regional fashion industry.
The course content included Analysis of the current state of the Caribbean Fashion industry, the relevance of intellectual property to the Fashion industry, Branding, Protection of brands, Forecasting and trends, Supply and textile sourcing, Outsourcing, licensing, Product distribution, Technology and Fashion, Sustainable & Ethical Fashion, Business Plan development and Preparing an investment pitch. The course also included opportunities for online networking and knowledge sharing among participants.
Based on course participation and assessment of assignments, 5 of the participants were selected for one week of Face-to-Face business coaching in Barbados, with the opportunity to pitch their business plans to Angel investors at the end of the week.
Ms. Glasgow was chosen as one of the 5 participants selected for the Face to Face sessions to be held in Barbados, but ultimately was denied participation, due to St Vincent and the Grenadines’ non-membership status in the IDB.
