News

Dominican Republic High School Student Wins Second Place in the Passion for Fashion Scholarship Competition - (1/24/2007)  

From High School Class to Runway Fashion Shows Dominican Republic Teen Wins Second Prize in The Art Institutes Passion for Fashion Competition

Miami, FL -- Jasmin Abu Nabaa of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic was recently awarded second prize for Fashion Design in the Miami International University of Art & Design Passion for Fashion Competition sponsored by The Art Institutes.

The seventeen year-old high school senior at Mundo Maria Montessori High School was awarded a scholarship covering half of the total tuition cost to study Fashion Design at the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree level at Miami International University of Art & Design. The total scholarship amount is approximately $40,000.

Sponsored by The Art Institutes, the Passion for Fashion Competition offers more than $300,000 in tuition scholarships to high school seniors interested in a career in fashion design or fashion marketing & merchandising.

"I was very excited to learn about the competition," said Jasmin, "I haven't participated in many competitions so it was such a surprise to learn that I had won."

The dress was first chosen on the local level by representatives from the University's Fashion program. This first round awarded Jasmin a $3,000 scholarship. According to Charlene Parsons, Fashion Director at Miami International University, Jasmin's dress was won for the choice of color and the attention to detail. The inspiration behind the dress came from a photo of Jasmin's aunt who was selected as "Miss Dominican Republic" in 1988.

Jasmin describes her aunt as being very elegant and Latin. "Latin beauty pageants feature a lot of hot colors (reds and oranges) with lots of details, folds, and ruffles. I wanted to make a dress that brought back that elegance and Latin influence," Jasmin said. It took her one week to complete the dress. Already making her own statements about fashion trends, Jasmin adds, "Fashion design needs to be complemented with accessories, and that's what I tried to do with my dress."

The theme of this year's fashion design category was evening wear. In the fashion design category, students were asked to create innovative and wearable designs for evening events. In fashion marketing & merchandising, competitors created concepts for fashion marketing plans.

For more information on fashion programs at The Art Institutes and on this year's Passion for Fashion Competition visit www.artinstitutes.edu/passion4fashion.