Budding creative geniuses Nafeesa Anwar (12 years), Ashhaad Sajan (10 years) and Abegail Vugayong (10-years) were announced first, second and third respectively in Benetton’s Cool Craft Competition, hosted in association with Modhesh Friends’ Club (MFC).
Benetton gift vouchers worth AED2,000, AED1,250 and AED750 were presented to the winners by Anil Nair, Business Manager, United Colors of Benetton and Ahmed Ali, Events and Operations Coordinator, Dubai Summer Surprises. The prize distribution took place on August 29 at Modhesh Fun City’s main stage at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
“Now in its second year, the Benetton Cool Craft Competition has become popular amongst both parents and children. This year’s contest was a huge success with more than 500 completed entries submitted at Modhesh Friend’s Club and Benetton outlets in the UAE. The children’s designs showed an abundance of talent and impressed the DSS and Benetton judges,” said Nair.
“Benetton embraces the use of creativity and colour in all its clothing lines. Many of the young artists in our competition showed a similar flair for colour and imaginative design. We were impressed by the attention to detail and effective use of colour and art material used by the young participants. I am pleased that Benetton and DSS were able to give youngsters the opportunity to express their hidden artistic talents yet again.”
All the artworks entered into the Cool Craft competition are on display at Benetton’s Deira City Centre and Mall of the Emirates outlets.
Children aged between seven and 14 years were eligible to enter the competition by picking up craft packs from any one of the Benetton outlets, located at City Centre, Mall of the Emirates or Jumeirah Centre. The packs included art materials and an outlined drawing sheet of a girl or boy for whom the children had to design outfits.
The young contestants could complete the art sheet in any way they chose, using paint, crayons, glitter, cloth or any material that took their fancy. Completed entries were submitted at Benetton outlets in Dubai before August 25, 2006.
Young MFC members also took part in Benetton’s Cool Craft Competition through the Club’s art and craft zones at Dubai World Trade Centre.
Set up as part of this year’s Dubai Summer Surprises by the Modhesh Fun City organisers, Modhesh Friends’ Club offers a variety of educational activities for youngsters registered in its summer programmes, such as art, music and field trips. The Benetton fashion shows and Cool Craft Competition for children are part of the club’s curriculum aimed at fostering talent and building confidence.
The Benetton Group is present in 120 countries around the world. Its core business is clothing with a strong Italian character. The Group produces over 110 million garments every year, 90 per cent of which are manufactured in Europe. The group’s retail network of 5,000 stores around the world, offering high quality customer services, generates an annual turnover of 1.9 billion euros.
United Colors of Benetton in the UAE has been part of the Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group since 1989. The network spans three shops in Dubai (Mall of the Emirates, Deira City Centre and Jumeirah Centre); one in Abu Dhabi in Abu Dhabi Mall; and a factory outlet on Zabeel Road in Dubai.
The Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group was founded in 1960 by Chairman HE Easa Saleh Al Gurg. Today, the Group is associated with leading names such as Unilever, Siemens, Dunlop, Benetton, Osram, British American Tobacco and ICI.
