NEW YORK: Leading fashion jewelry company Carolee has announced winners of its year-long jewelry design competition with New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology. Among the winners is Prakshi Sharma, a graduate from FIT who won the top award for social/bridal category.
The competition has been a key part of the company’s 40th Anniversary celebration this year, which carries the theme ‘Carolee: Then and Now’. The FIT competition, deemed the “Now” part of that program, was aimed at ushering in a new generation of Carolee while honoring the heritage and DNA of the brand.
Guided by the FIT Jewelry Design Department and the design team at Carolee, the students began the process at the beginning of the 2011 school year and presented their final designs for judging in the spring 2012 semester. In addition to winning $1000 apiece, all five winners’ jewelry designs have been manufactured by Carolee and are making their debut in major US and international department stores fall 2012.
The competition had four key categories central to the brand: Pearls, Metals, Fashion and Bridal/Social. A fifth “People’s Choice” winner was voted online through a Facebook contest with videos of the student’s designs, which Carolee implemented throughout the spring.
And the winners are: Palwasha Iqbal in the Fashion category; Yoonji Choi in the Pearls category; Prakshi Sharma in the Social/Bridal category; and Christine Gonzalez in the Metals category. The People’s Choice winner is Elyse Spencer, whose pieces will be at retail in November for the holidays. For each FIT design sold, Carolee will donate $5 to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Karen O’Brien, VP of Marketing 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 collections officially debuted at a special event on the first floor at Bloomingdale’s 59th Street on September 13. Students met with VIPs from the store, FIT, and The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and their pieces were shown in Bloomingdale’s windows.
Prakshi – Living her dream
Prakshi Sharma, a 23-year-old aspiring jewelry designer from the capital city of India, has come to live her dream in New York City. A naturally gifted designer, Prakshi is passionate about creating something new every day.
This highly pampered child has managed to live so far away from her family, her sole drive being to become a successful designer. She hopes to make her family and friends back in India proud.
Though jewelry making began as an “accidental love,” it grew into a unique and compelling “passion” for Prakshi. She followed her heart and after her bachelors in Economics, she switched to jewelry design. Trained by the best in the field, Prakshi graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Her designs are global and reflect the city that she inhabits. Inspired by the snake charmer and “big fat Indian weddings,” Prakshi has developed a Bridal Collection for Carolee. Her designs are urban, culturally diverse and infused with artistic inspiration. Prakshi’s designs combine Old World aesthetics with New World fashion, resulting in breathtakingly unique, wearable works of art.
Krishan Sharma
India Post News Service
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