Jasmine Fayed, the 25-year-old daughter of the Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed, created the fashion label Jasmine Di Milom, which is based at her father's Knightsbridge store. She scooped a prize for young inspirational women at the Women of the Future awards at the London Hilton on Park Lane last night.
She won the arts, media and culture category alongside the film-maker Vicky Jewson, 20, who was honoured for her feature- length film Lady Godiva, which is due for release this year.
Miss Fayed was among seven young women recognised for their outstanding talents. They were selected by a panel of judges chaired by Baroness Susan Greenfield, director of the Royal Institute. The awards were launched this year to promote female role models under the age of 35.
Emily Cummins, 19, a university student from Bradford and award-winning ethical inventor who took the technology award, began her career at the age of 15 when she designed a new tool for her ailing grandfather. She said: "I designed a toothpaste dispenser for people with arthritis because my grandfather couldn't squeeze toothpaste without hurting his hand."
A year later, while she was doing an A-level project, she developed a water carrier for manual workers in Africa that could be pulled rather than placed on shoulders or heads. She won a sustainable design award at the ceremony last night.
Now she is sponsored by Nesta - a company that nurtures creative talent - and is in the process of developing a refrigerator that relies on sustainable energy rather than electricity to keep drugs cool in Africa.
Meanwhile, Jennie Johnson, 34, from Manchester, started up her own nursery business, Kids Allowed, after encountering difficulties in finding adequate care for her two daughters, then aged five and one, while she worked in a full-time job.
"I was driven by my own requirements for flexible, high-quality nurseries. I had a school-age child and a baby and a full-time job, and I was finding it really difficult to get the right kind of care for children of different ages locally, so I decided to set up a high-quality service so people could go to work without the guilt you have as parents," she said.
Ms Johnson and her business partner, also a mother, set up a small firm that offered flexible care for babies and older children, as well as a parent concierge system, in May 2003. The company now has an annual turnover of £1.5m and employs 90 people.
Cherie Blair, who was present at the ceremony last night, commended the women, but warned: "We still need more women to reach the very top. Young women need the inspiration that role models can bring." Ruth Kelly, minister for women, said the prize-winners showed the " extraordinary depth and breadth of young female talent in this country".
The winners
Entrepreneurial Woman of the Future
Jennie Johnson, 34, from Manchester, who gave up a six-figure IT salary to found the nursery business Kids Allowed.
Business Woman of the Future
Eloise Tooke, 32, managing director of the TV production company Power.
The Professions Woman of the Future
Dr Shaheena Janjuha-Jivraj, 32, from Uxbridge, west London, a business lecturer at Brunel Business School.
Science Woman of the Future
Cait Macphee, 35, a physicist at Edinburgh University.
Arts, Media & Culture Woman of the Future
Vicky Jewson, 20, from Oxford and Jasmine Fayed, 25, from London.
Technology Woman of the Future
Emily Cummins, 19, from Bradford.
A further two awards were presented for individuals and organisations that have helped nurture young women of high potential:
KPMG Mentor of the Year
Susan Payne, Emergent Asset Management - CEO of a hedge fund who also runs the financial networking group 85 Broads.
The Shell Woman of the Future Corporate Award
Citigroup, which has coaching programmes for younger women.
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