Location: Spire

The nine finalists of this year’s Little Black Dress Designer student fashion design competition remade and perfected their dresses from the runway to the real world with aid from the LBDD creative collaboration and their muses. These final designs were beautifully unveiled on each student’s fashion “muse” this past Wednesday at downtown Houston’s hot new nightclub, Spire.

The nine“Muses” from this year’s competition include social and fashion icons of Houston who picked their dresses “white elephant” style during a tea party in November at Tootsies. Once each dress was chosen, the nine designer-muse pairs were assigned to one of three designer mentors to oversee the execution of the process.

The mentors provide the apprenticeship piece to the LBDD project, while the muses offer the inspiration for the finalists. Together, this collaboration offers an invaluable source of professional experience not offered in the classroom. Designers have had several months to collaborate with their mentor and muse to come up with the final designs.

7TH LBDD Finalists, Mentors & Muses

Mentor Paola Contreras:

Designer Kitty Dupas for Muse Molly/ Stone Designer Alan Gonzalez for Muse Lily Jang/ Designer Blanca Vargas for Muse Diane Caplan

Mentor Steve Guthrie:

Designer Arielle Griffin for Muse Joy Sewing/ Designer Kim Nguyen for Muse Gracie Cavnar/ Designer Dika Obiaju for Muse Dominique Sachse Florescu

Mentor David Peck:

Designer Megan Brigham for Muse Rita Garcia/ Designer Toyin Talabi for Muse Romy Mitchell/ Designer Jean Weber for Muse Chris Goins

After the muses and their designers were presented, Chris Goins took the stage to speak about the night’s honoree, and her dear friend, Mickey Rosmarin, Founder of Tootsies. She gave a moving dedication to a remarkable man who changed the face of fashion in Houston.

About Little Black Dress Designer Foundation

The Little Black Dress never goes out of style, inspiring the world since 1926. Like its namesake, the LITTLE BLACK DRESS DESIGNER competition gives students and emerging designers the chance to re-imagine a fashion icon for a chance to win academic scholarships and incredible real-life career networking. The competition was founded in 2008 by Jeff Shell, director modeling and acting firm Neal Hamil Agency. Since the competition’s founding, LBDD has awarded more than $100,000 in scholarships to Texas students. The Little Black Dress Designer Foundation is a 501(c)3 organization. Over $15,000 in scholarships were awarded due to this event.

At the end of the show, Bethie was asked to take the stage to announce next year’s nine muses. So exciting! They are Crystle Stewart, Deborah Duncan, Stacey Lindseth, Debbie Festari, Staci Henderson, Miya Shay, Jennifer Molleda, Leisa Holland-Nelson and Caroline LeBlanc.

Media Contact: Jeff Shell at 713-256-4875 [email protected].