wednesday

NEWS 13Bags of style: Nazia Andaleeb Preema (left) and Shariful IslamAuthentic Bangladeshijute bags bring a touchof style to CannesTHE BAGS being given to delegatesat this year’s Festival comefrom Bangladesh, the world’slargest exporter of jute.The initiative, which was organisedby Shariful Islam, managingdirector of the Dhaka-basedBangladesh Brand Forum, aimsto publicise the country’s statusas a rising star of the Asianeconomy, as well as to helpencourage delegates to switchto bio-degradable products.Islam said: “Bangladeshis believein authenticity, and we wantedto produce something thatreflects a sense of what it is tobe from Bangladesh.We also wanted something thatreflects the fact that the country’sGDP is growing very fast,at around 6% per year.” The bagwas designed by Nazia AndaleebPreema of Preema’s Atelier.“They are made of high qualityjute that is much stronger thanIndian jute due to the challengingclimactic conditions in whichit grows,” she said. “These bagsare tough and will remind peopleabout Bangladesh for yearsto come.” ^Translation app is ‘a gift tothe Festival’ from ChinaCHINA’s Modern Advertisingis in Cannes with a new app thatallows delegates to discovertheir Chinese name and haveit printed on T-shirts. “This appis something I’ve invented as agift to the Festival,” said ChenYong, president of ModernAdvertising, China’s largestdesign and advertising publication.“I wanted to bring somethingto Cannes that was funand interesting. Since weModern Advertising’s Chen Yong: “fun and interesting” gift to the Festivalopened our pavilion, there havebeen lines of people waiting toparticipate, so I guess we’vebeen successful in that goal.”He added: “Recently many peoplearound the globe have beeninterested in the Chinese market.But to get to know the market,I think it’s good to help peopleunderstand a bit more aboutChinese culture.” He pointedout that there are many onlinesites that will translate Englishnames into Chinese but added:“Our application is differentbecause it is based on the 100best-known family names inChina. If we use this route tocreate a Chinese name, it’s tiedmore into the culture than astraight-across translation.”Chen plans to launch a websiteand will further developthe app that he has created asa way of helping people to learnmore about China.^TUESDAY, JUNE 21,2011