Inspirational Women: Anya Hindmarch Wins Veuve Clicquot Award

April 20, 2012
By: Ashleigh Wight

Handbag entrepreneur and influential businesswoman Anya Hindmarch has been awarded The Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Award 2012 in it’s 40th anniversary year.

Anya is certainly deserving of the award, with her most recognisable endeavour being the ‘I’m Not A Plastic Bag’ tote bag, a worldwide sell-out which made it fashionable to ditch plastic bags and save the planet.

The awards panel also noted Anya’s support of start up entrepreneurs to be one of the key points which made her deserving of the award, notably her involvement with the ‘Start Up Britain’ campaign, which was launched in March 2011 by the government.

Anya Hindmarch certainly has had an inspiring career and a very impressive CV, which includes her role as a UK trade ambassador,  trustee of both The Royal Academy and The Design Museum, governor of the University of the Arts and a non-executive director of the British Fashion Council.

Starting her fashion career in Italy, Anya noticed that many fashionable women in Florence had leather duffel bags. She recreated her own similar design and sold them in the UK through Harpers & Queen, before starting her own business which saw celebrities such as Princess Diana purchasing her bags. Twenty years on and her shop has expanded to 54 stores in 7 countries.

Anya Hindmarch beat finalists Helena Morrissey of Newton Investment Management and Ruth Rogers, owner of River Café in London, to the award.

The Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Award was established in 1972 to recognise the contribution women have made to international business. It was the first international business award of its kind and previous winners include Laura Tenison, founder and managing director of JoJo Maman Bebe and Carolyn McCall, chief executive of the Guardian Media Group.

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Sources: www.veuveclicquotaward.com, www.anyahindmarch.com, diarydirectory.com

Images: www.therichest.org,