Supima Design Competition

On January 19th 2010 Supima held the third annual design competition at the Times Square Building. The competition began when Supima held an open call to all designers at Bloomingdales in October 2009. Each designer had to submit one sketch, and present their portfolios to a panel of judges. Twelve semi finalists were chosen, and had to present three additional evening looks in shirting, knit, and denim, plus one additional look of a man's t-shirt. From the twelve semi finalists, only six finalists were chosen to present their collection at the fashion show.
The six finalists are Robin Tomas, Gina DeSilva, Michael Venker, Nadia Ivanova, Heber Sanchez, and Sachika's To-Tam and To-Nya Ton-Nu. Supima provided each designer with the fabric to use in the show. After three months of laborious sewing and draping, the six designers showcased their looks to family, fashionistas, and a panel of pristine judges (Teri Agins, Simon Collins, Chris Frye, Horacio Silva and Buxton Midyette). Host Katrina Szish, a journalist and pop culture personality, opened the show by presenting the judges and a brief intro about Supima. Candice Huffine and Marquita Pring, informed the audiences about the @Supima twitter campaign to help the people of Haiti, and supermodel Coca Rocha announces the winners. The lights turned down and the shutters went up to reveal a glass walkway and a beautiful view of the lobby garden. Each model walked out behind the glass walkway and around on to the stage. There were a few looks that stood out, but in the end Gina DeSilva won the best in show. Her three evening looks were very strong and cohesive. She had a gorgeous pleated one shoulder gown in a mermaid silhouette, and her ruffled knit gown with distressed detailing was graceful. Designer Robin Tomas was the winner for the men's t-shirt design. His Triple layered t-shirt will be sold at Bloomingdale's stores nationwide.