SUPIMA 10TH DESIGN COMPETITION CELEBRATES EMERGING TALENTS

Commemorating a decade of championing new talent, the Supima Design Competition unveiled its latest roster of design graduates and awarded this year’s prize to Alyssa Wardrop of New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, who will also now have the opportunity to show her collection at Paris Fashion Week.

The event was overseen by Supima vice president of marketing and promotions, the wonderfully, and improbably named Buxton Midyette, and hosted by author and celebrity style guru June Ambrose. Judges included Fern Mallis, Elle magazine’s Jade Frampton, Allure’s Nicole Chapoteau, Fashion Unfiltered founder Katherine Zarrella, The Daily Front Row’s Paige Reddinger among others.

The show featured the work of all seven finalists which included Abigail Griswold, Alexandra Pijut, Nancy Hennessy, Lela Thompson, Margaret Kwon, and Sarah Johnson. Finalists were challenged to create a women’s wear capsule collection of five looks using each type of premium Supima cotton fabric – shirting; knit; velveteen; twill, and denim. An additional challenge is eschewing typical eveningwear fabrics such as taffeta and silk in order to make use of the unconventional nature of Supima’s textiles and rethink traditional eveningwear.

Under the tutelage of CFDA Award-winning designer Bibhu Mohapatra they benefit from invaluable guidance in bringing their individual creative vision to life. The looks ranged from the winning collection’s avant-garde silhouettes to the other finalists’ elegant evening pieces and sophisticated day ensembles.