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Rapanui is an Eco-Fashion company from the Isle of Wight, that makes Organic, Ethical clothing using Renewable Energy with award-winning traceability. Rapanui is about making eco-fashion cool.

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Business in the Community Award

Category: Awards

Rapanui: Business in the Community Award 2011

This Friday we won the 2011 Business in the Community Award at the chamber of commerce do, here on the Isle of Wight. Last year we had a chat about caterpillars to Chris Packham, a hard act to follow, but this year he might have been pipped by Louis Attrill (Olympic Gold medal rowing hero) who came over later on and helped us get rid of a bottle of Drambuie that we'd aquired from the bar.

Having made it safely home we thought it a good time to mention some of our collaborators; young, talented and creative people on the Isle of Wight who have worked with Rapanui this year - the unsung heros of some of our projects behind the scenes.

A round of applause please for...

James Ioannou

You may have heard of of this guy if you know a bit about bikes - James is a bit of a legend in the dirt-jumping world and despite a few injury setbacks, has managed to gain a lot of recognition for his exploits. One standout feature was his "Red Bike, Blue Bike" video filmed in France for Rapanui. Since then, the flying affro has got stuck into photography, and turned out to be rather good at it. We got James invovled to shoot our Spring/Summer collection at the start of 2011 - solid results. He's now gone on to finish his photography degree at uni. Backflip-Beanpole, we would wish you luck for your photography - but you don't need it. #OneToWatch

Emma Harris

The Harris Hawk dropped by Rapanui in 2010 to interview the founders for her local collaborative project, I.Love.Wight - an online magazine profiling the Island's young creatives. Em ended up staying on to do an internship in our marketing team, calling people up, writing stories and co-ordinating photoshoots. A highlight for her was breaking into the Isle of Wight festival, without a ticket, chatting to all the celebs and gaining entry to the festival director's office, then posing for a photo with him. This is the 007 of the journalism world. Em has gone on to pursue a career in journalism, keep your eyes peeled.

Will Jackson

Action: Think of Quentin Tarantino meets Steve Coogan, and you've got Will Jackson - a most talented editor, director and cameraman. Will has been working with us this Autumn on a few behind-the-scenes projects including our Office Christmas Special. Will's gone on to set up his own media company, Will Jackson Media and won a contract in the new year with... Rapanui Clothing Ltd. starting in January. Aaaaand cut.

Luke Davis

Last but not least, The Duke. Meet Luke Davis - previously one of the 1 Million unemployed young people in Britain signing on at the Jobcentre each week. Luke came in voluntarily to get some work experience, and made himself so useful we couldn't do without him. Fast forward one year and the Duke is now in charge of a team of 3 in the customer service department and he's the man who hand writes a thankyou on to every single order we get at Rapanui. Luke is an example of going the extra mile - someone who has earned himself a job - and he's here to stay.

So there we have it, our community heros. The saying goes "tell me who you're with, and I'll tell you who you are"

...well if this lot are anything to go by... that makes us a tall, affro'd female writer with a penchant for film making and outstanding customer care.

And that is clearly an Award-winning combo.