At the eight annual Supima Design Competition Runway Show held on September 10, 2015 at the Skylight Clarkson Square, Kate McKenna-Schliep from the Savannah College of Art & Design was announced as the winner.Hosted by Olivia Culpo, the competition marked the eight year that Supima has sponsored a collective runway show of participating designers from the nation’s top schools presenting capsule collections of women’s eveningwear made exclusively with donated Supima based fabrics.
This year, recent graduates from the nation’s top leading schools – Karen Dang from the Academy of Art University, Leetal Platt from FIDM, Nnamdi Agum from FIT, Paige Meacham from Kent State University, Lauren Nahigian from Pratt Institute’s Brooklyn Fashion + Design Accelerator, Julia Han from RISD and Kate McKenna-Schliep from SCAD competed for the prestigious award.
The winner, Kate McKenna-Schliep, was selected by the below panel of guest judges, and will receive a $10,000 check from Supima to kick-start her design career. Additionally, in a first for the Supima Design Competition, Kate will present her collection during Paris Fashion Week on October 2 at Hôtel de Pontalba – the official residence of the U.S. Ambassador to France, Jane Hartley.
Judges included: Aslaug Magnusdottir, Fern Mallis, David Yi, Carmen Lilly, Naomi Nevitt, Jessica Michault, Catherine Baba, Nicolas Ouchenir, Ildo Damiano, Sam Spector and Mary Alice Stephenson.
Fashion designer Bibhu Mohapatra served as mentor to the seven finalists, providing invaluable feedback and insight throughout the process.
Started in 2008, the annual Supima Design Competition was created to give runway exposure to emerging talent and was modeled on the legendary 1954 Wool Secretariat competition that launched the careers of the then-teenaged Yves St. Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld.
Since its start, former Supima Design Competition winners have gone on to launch their own labels, show at New York Fashion Week, and secure jobs with top international labels including Michael Kors, Marchesa, Ralph Lauren and Phillip Lim.
Competing Designers:
- Karen Dang (Academy of Art University)
- Leetal Platt (Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising)
- Nnamdi Agum (Fashion Institute of Technology)
- Paige Meacham (Kent State University)
- Lauren Nahigian (Pratt Institute’s Brooklyn Fashion + Design Accelerator)
- Julia Han (Rhode Island School of Design)
- Kate McKenna-Schliep (Savannah College of Art & Design)
Photos courtesy of Supima
