When I signed up at British Council Vietnam for the International Young Design Entrepreneur Award (IYDE), I was only thinking of a chance to talk to people about my hopes for a better future of fashion in Vietnam and then, when I was selected, I felt so happy that I could travel to London with many new things awaiting for me.

The programme was for eight days, but I knew everybody in BC London had to spend months to prepare for it. I was so impressed and grateful for Claire, Rebecca and all other BCers who had really put their heart in the work which made the programme so successful and will stay in the mind of 23 IYCEs forever.

I enjoyed all the sessions, especially the London Fashion Week visit, Masterclass with Sir Paul Smith, Building your brand with Sally Denton and Working with Buyers with Liz Bolt as I gained much advice and knowledge from them.

Paul Smith is one of the most famous designers in the UK but he answered all the questions from IYCEs in a very friendly and simple way. One of my favourite quotes from him was: “To become a successful designer, you have to know who you are, what you need and never take your feet off the ground“. Sessions with Sally Denton and Liz Bolt who have experiences in the retailing market of UK have helped me to continue exporting to the UK market more professionally after eight years already working in this market.

I could see great ideas everywhere I went. It was a week full of creativity, I could find it in the Masterclass with Paul Priestman of Priestmangoode, in The Royal College of Art, in London Design Festival, in 100% Design and in Designersblock. This inspired me a lot for future ideas and designs.

One thing I will never forget about the trip was the friendship and relationship between 23 IYCEs from 19 countries, we are all different in business and character, but BC has connected us together - that is the most wonderful thing of all. I see a lot of things I should study from them and we are ready to go ahead with collaboration for future projects. I also had a great chance to discover culture of the countries where they came from as well.

After the trip, I know what I should do for myself and for my country, wish I could do something good for the creative industry soon.

Thank you, British Council for giving me a great chance to learn about the world.

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Lan - October 2011