Lauren Nahigian for Supima (Supima photos)

According to the Supima site: “The annual Supima Design Competition was created to give runway exposure to emerging talent and was modeled after the legendary 1954 Wool Secretariat competition that launched the careers of the then-teenaged Yves St. Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld.

Seven of America’s top design schools including the Academy of Art University, Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, Fashion Institute of Technology, Kent State, Pratt Institute’s Brooklyn Fashion + Design Accelerator, Rhode Island School of Design, and Savannah College of Art & Design were asked to select one finalist from among their graduating seniors. Each finalist was then asked to create a capsule collection of women’s evening wear gowns from premium Supima denims, knits, corduroys, twills, and shirting.

Yearly, a prestigious panel of judges decide the winner at a fashion show held during New York Fashion Week at Lincoln Center. The winner is announced at the completion of the show and receives a $10,000 cash award. The top graduating senior finalist for the competition representing the Pratt Institute was Lauren Nahigian.

With a predisposition to using eye-popping colors and printed fabrics as a foundation, Lauren told Supima she “likes to push the boundaries of traditional design,” with her line.

Read the full article on the Brooklyn Fashion+Design Accelerator.