Southall-raised mehndi artist wins Starbucks national cup design competition

A mehndi artist who grew up in Southall has won a national competition to redesign the Starbucks cup. She drew a traditional henna mandala straight onto the cup with a mehndi cone, without sketching it first.

Starbucks UK named Manii Basran, 36, as the overall winner of the Starbucks Illustration Club. Her design beat hundreds of entries from across the country and will now feature in a nationwide outdoor advertising campaign.

From cone to cup

Ms Basran has been doing mehndi for almost 20 years, mostly for brides, alongside her day job as a lettings manager.

When the competition opened, she went to the Starbucks branch across the road from her office, picked up a cup and started drawing on it. She finished the design in one sitting.

The round Starbucks siren logo reminded her of a mandala, a motif she has drawn on brides' hands for years. Starbucks said her winning design applied the traditional henna art form to its cup, with the mandala built around the logo.

Starbucks described the entry as a "beautifully intricate henna design that celebrates creativity, heritage and culture".

Speaking after her win, Ms Basran said she had been a Starbucks fan for years and knew straight away that she wanted to enter. She said that growing up in West London, mehndi had always been part of the celebrations and traditions around her.

Judged by Yinka Ilori

A judging panel of artists, designers and Starbucks representatives chose the winner. It was led by the British-Nigerian artist and designer Yinka Ilori MBE, who is known for colourful public installations and design work.

Mr Ilori said: "Design is for everyone, and art is for everyone. This artwork beautifully celebrates the beauty of art as a global language. Taking henna, a very traditional technique, and applying it to a Starbucks cup is genius."

As part of her prize, Ms Basran will receive one-to-one creative mentoring from Mr Ilori. Her artwork will also be shown in the company's advertising across the UK.

A national showcase

Starbucks UK launched the Illustration Club in early August 2026, in partnership with Mr Ilori. Illustrators, artists and doodlers aged 18 and over were invited to turn the company's coffee cup into a canvas.

The competition was part of a wider Starbucks UK campaign called Made in Starbucks, which celebrates creative people who work in its coffee shops. Earlier in the summer, the campaign also invited local sign-makers to redesign the windows of Starbucks branches.

For Ms Basran, the design is also personal. She planned to use the same mandala at her own wedding at the end of September.

Mehndi is the art of decorating the hands and feet with henna paste. It has long been part of weddings, religious festivals and family celebrations in Southall, home to one of the largest South Asian communities in the UK. The town's Broadway and surrounding streets are known for henna artists, bridal shops and jewellers. A design that started there will now be seen on billboards across the country.