STANSTED, UK, October 8, 2010—FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) and the world’s largest express transportation company, has awarded two university students from Manchester Metropolitan University a £1,000 prize after a panel judged their new company the winner in a competition linked to their degrees.
The competition was created to provide university students studying Fashion Buying an opportunity to gain business experience, while also offering a practical alternative to submitting a dissertation that would count towards their degree. The judging panel included a FedEx representative and staff members from Manchester Metropolitan University.
Otterwell, named after joint-owner Alex Otterwell who started the company with his business partner Bryn Gloor in December 2009 as part of their degree, focuses on everyday men’s clothes. The company’s signature item of clothing is an outdoor work jacket, a twist on the U.S. style popular in the 1920s that helped them claim the FedEx- sponsored prize. Both men have now finished their degrees and will officially launch Otterwell in autumn this year.
“Congratulations to Otterwell on their win,” said Diamond Psarianos, vice president, Operations, FedEx Express Northern Europe. “The judges felt their design, business acumen and tenacity at pushing through their ideas and turning them into a marketable proposition outstripped a very strong field of candidates. We wish them luck and are sure that they will turn Otterwell into a successful clothing brand.”
“We see ourselves very much as a lifestyle brand, rather than a traditional clothing brand,” said Otterwell. “It has been an incredible start to our journey and it was always our goal, when we set out last year, not to make this just a simple university project, but something that would become a proper business in its own right and we are well on the way to achieving our goal. We are in talks with a number of high end shops about stocking our clothing line and will be launching our website very soon.”
Otterwell designs will be available shortly on their website at www.otterwell.com.