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RAPAPORT... Jewelry firm Carolee named five winners from New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) for a design competition celebrating the brand's 40th anniversary, which carried the theme ''Carolee: Then and Now.'' The FIT competition, deemed the "Now" part of that program, was aimed at receiving a new generation of Carolee designs, while honoring the brand's past. Carolee defined the competition with four key categories: pearls, metals, fashion and bridal/social. A "People's Choice" category was added too, where consumers voted online through a Facebook contest for that top designer. Guided by the FIT's jewelry design department along with the design team at Carolee, students began the competitive process at the beginning of their 2011 school year and then presented final designs in the spring 2012 semester. Carolee awarded each winner a $1,000 along with manufacturing the designs to debut in major U.S. and international department stores this quarter. Pictured from left to right in the photograph, Palwasha Iqbal won for the fashion category; Prakshi Sharma took highest honor for the bridal/social category; The People's Choice winner went to Elyse Spencer; Yoonji Choi won top prize for pearls and Christine Gonzalez was awarded for the metals category. The winning pieces will be available in November, just in time for the Christmas season and for each FIT design sold, Carolee will donate $5 to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. (See all winning designs at http://www.carolee.com/). Karen O'Brien, the vice president of marketing at Carolee, said, "Our collaboration with FIT provided us an excellent way to celebrate our 40th anniversary. In the design process, we have had the privilege of both teaching the students how to design jewelry for the retail market and learning each of their unique creative processes. We are thrilled to be able to bring the winners' very first designs to the marketplace." The winning collections will debut at Bloomingdale's 59th Street on September 13 in Manhattan at which time the students will meet with VIP's from the store, FIT, and The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The winning designs will be displayed in Bloomingdale's storefront windows.
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