FIT Grad Jusil Carroll Wins The 2011 Supima Competition

FIT Grad Jusil Carroll announced as the winner of 2011 Supima Competition by Rachel Zoe

The 2011 Supima Competition was my first show of the season at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. I was excited to see the collections of the talented competing designers from top fashion schools that included the Fashion Institute of Technology, Pratt Institute, Rhode Island School of Design, and Savannah College of Art and Design. Secretly I was rooting for my alma mater FIT of course!

The competition was hosted by the ever so amazing Rachel Zoe which made it even more exciting! It was very reminiscent of Project Runway and Rachel was like the Heidi Klum of the competition.

In May of 2011, each of the designers was assigned a faculty mentor, provided fabric from Supima’s most prestigious fabric mills, and asked to create a capsule collections of women’s evening wear that capitalized on the softness, strength and luster characteristic of Supima Cotton.

The winning designer was 2011 FIT Graduate Jusil Carroll of South Korea who was announced by Rachel Zoe and took home the top prize of $10,000. Her collection was exquisitely crafted with great tailoring and structure of each garment. My favorite piece was look 2 which was the sleeveless, high-waisted evening gown with layered skirt and self train, constructed of dyed and digitally printed shirting, worn with a matching digitally printed vest with leather embellishment.

Finalists were judged on the originality and execution of their garments by top industry heavy weights that included Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, founder of the Gilt Groupe; Coco Rocha, model; Kevin Harter, VP of men's fashion, Bloomingdale’s; Nicole Miller, designer; Charlotte Ronson, designer and DJ; and Buxton Midyette, vice president of marketing for Supima.

Rachel Zoe announcing the beginning of The 2011 Supima Competition

Maru Jung-Pratt

Maru Jung-Pratt Institute

Maru Jung-Pratt Institute

Maru Jung-Pratt Institute

Dara Rosen-Pratt Institute

Dara Rosen-Pratt Institute

Dara Rosen-Pratt Institute

Dara Rosen-Pratt Institute

Dara Rosen-Pratt Institute

Dara Rosen-Pratt Institute

Rachel Pullman-Rhode Island School of Design

Rachel Pullman-Rhode Island School of Design

Rachel Pullman-Rhode Island School of Design

Rachel Pullman-Rhode Island School of Design

Rachel Pullman-Rhode Island School of Design

Rachel Pullman-Rhode Island School of Design

Rachel Pullman-Rhode Island School of Design

Connie Weng-Rhode Island School of Design

Connie Weng-Rhode Island School of Design

Connie Weng-Rhode Island School of Design

Connie Weng-Rhode Island School of Design

Connie Weng-Rhode Island School of Design

Connie Weng-Rhode Island School of Design

Connie Weng-Rhode Island School of Design