New York, NY, August 4, 2008 -- MyItThings.com (http://myitthings.com), a leading publisher of user-generated fashion content, today announced the top three finalists in the "It" Designer Contest, which invited up-and-coming designers to submit five of their best designs.  The winners are Chicago’s Nora delBusto , NYC’s Wakana Koike and Las Vegas’ Adolfo Sanchez.  Each will be displaying their work in a runway show on October 15 in NYC.

“This is a perfect example of how MyItThings.com is democratizing the process for up-and-coming fashion designers who are looking to break into the competitive world of fashion,” said Yuli Ziv, Editor—in-Chief/Co-Founder of MyItThings.com.  “In the past, designers would never have the chance to submit their designs and access a global audience to critique their work.   MyItThings.com is the first site to offer this incredibly unique opportunity.”

The contest launched on May 12, 2008.  Each designer submitted five of their best looks, which were displayed on MyItThings.com through July 15. These looks received nearly 100,000 votes from site’s community of trendsetters and as well as the all-star panelist of judges including “Project Runway” alum Malan Breton, Life & Style’s former Editor-in-Chief Sheryl Berk, C Magazine’s Nathan Cooper, Designer Keith Lissner, Design Expert Greg Littley, Style Expert Hitha Prabhakar and MyItThings’ Yuli Ziv.

Ziv adds, “What’s made the contest such a remarkable success to date is the incredible level of work submitted by the more than 300 contestants.  It was truly an incredibly difficult task to narrow the field down to three finalists.”

Each of the three finalists will be awarded $1500 to work on their looks for a Spring 2009 collection.  This effort will be documented on the MyItThings.com social platform through blogs, videos and pictures in order for fans to keep up with their favorite designers' efforts. 

A runway show styled by New York’s Sassoon Salon will be conducted on Oct. 15 in NYC, where the finalists will display their work in a professional runway show.  Before the event, designer Kathlin Argiro will host the finalists in her studio and showroom in New York and serve as their mentor. 

The final winner will be chosen by a combined vote, which is 50 percent by the MyItThings.com community and 50 percent by the panel of celebrity judges.  The winner of The Next It Fashion Designer will receive a $5,000 Grand Prize, as well as exclusive collection sale on MyItThings.com. 

Source: PR Newswire

CONGRATULATIONS to the winners!!