Yanina Chevtchouk is a full-time Ryerson business student. She's also the owner and CEO of the fashion design label
Paria Lambina Inc, headquartered here in Toronto. That combination of traits
has earned her an award from the organization Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship as the 2011 Ontario Student Entrepreneur Champion.
She says that being a full-time student and running a business at the same time gives her the opportunity to put her learning into practice immediately. "It has its ups and downs, but I think the benefits outweight the drawbacks."
The recognition comes with a cheque for $1,000 and the chance to move on to the national-level competition, where the prize is $10,000 cash. But Chevtchouk, says the opportunity to network and "receive feedback from top executives" that could improve her business as the real benefits of the citation.
Founded last year, Paria Lambina debuted a collection at Montreal Fashion Week in the Fall, earning writeups from sweetspot.ca, Canoe.ca and
Flare magazine. She's preparing for bigger stages yet--next up is Toronto Alternative Fashion Week.
Chevtchouk says that it's an interesting time to be in the fashion industry in Toronto. "It's definitely an interesting place given the number of US retailers that are coming here. It's an exciting time."
Writer: Edward Keenan
Sources: Yanina Chevtchouk, Paria Lambina; Jaime Szegvary, ACE