CT Fashion Designers Challenged

NEW HAVEN — Calling all fashion designers: On Saturday, June 9, from noon to 5 pm, fashion designers from all over Connecticut will be competing in the Connecticut Fashion Designer Challenge. The event will be held during the Audubon Arts on the Edge Festival, also in New Haven.

Each designer who enters the challenge will be required to have one finished garment in order to participate. A panel of local celebrity judges will determine the winner on three basic components: presentation, promotion, and design.

In addition to public, family, friends, and fans voting, the judges will consider merchandising displays, marketing materials, ready-to-sell product, creative table dressings, presentation boards, fabric swatches, and portfolios when scoring points. Craftsmanship and attention to detail of the finished apparel piece will receive the highest scoring points.

A selected group of fashion designers will be chosen to present their looks on models at 4 pm. The designers will be asked to make a statement that relates their inspiration for their work, and a final winner will be announced at 5 pm.

The winner will receive a one-year contract with Sogno, Boutique of Dreams and a year of media and Internet support.

Krista Camputaro, the owner of Sogno, Boutique of Dreams, is the creator of the Connecticut Fashion Designer Challenge.

“I see Connecticut as having an abundance of artisans within the fashion industry,” said Ms Camputaro. “There is a huge opportunity for these raw talent designers to display their wares to the public.”

Ms Camputaro hopes the Challenge will showcase the talents of designers throughout Connecticut, and will be helping the designers get their start — or take their next career step — within the award-winning Audubon Street Arts District of New Haven.

Community members involved with making the challenge possible include Cynthia Clair, executive director, and Jose Monteiro, director of community cultural development of The Arts Council of Greater New Haven; Corrine Thomas, founder of IMANI/Fashion Models Institute; and Julie Braun, the founder of Julie Braun Design.

“The Connecticut Fashion Designer Challenge …[is] a terrific way to acknowledge and showcase the talent of artists working in fashion design,” said Ms Clair. “The future goal is to create and develop a Connecticut Fashion Week where fashion seminars, shows, and networking events, can turn fashion designer concepts into obtainable goals for these fresh talents to reach the marketplace.”

For more information about the event or to inquire about an entry form to be part of the Challenge, visit MySpace.com/ FashionDesignerChallenge.