Fila announced that two finalists have been selected for the
tennis dress design contest which was held via the brand’s Facebook
page, Facebook.com/FilaAmerica. The citizen sourced contest was an
innovative twist on the designer/celebrity collaboration trend. Fila
gave real people the opportunity to become a fashion star in the
specialized world of performance tennis fashion.
The final round of competition will be held in Fila’s New York office
where they will present their ideas and inspiration for the submitted
design to the panel of judges (Fila’s apparel team). One finalist,
Annabelle McDonald, is a film and television producer from Ohio living
in Brooklyn, New York. The other finalist, Samantha Swank is a recent
Fashion Design graduate from Art Institute of Philadelphia.
The winning designer will remain in New York to begin the product
development process for their design and oversee production along-side
Fila’s Vice President of Apparel, Danny Lieberman. They will return to
New York the first week of September for a fitting of the dress on a
professional tennis player. In March 2013, the winner and a guest will
watch courtside as their dress debuts in a tournament match by a
Fila-sponsored WTA Tour tennis player at the Sony Open in Miami.
“Fila has a rich history of design innovation and a reputation for
pushing the boundaries between art, design and fashion,” said Danny
Lieberman, Vice President Apparel for Fila USA. “Nearly four decades of
tennis design experience has taught us that inspiration can be found in
the most unexpected places, so it was almost expected that Fila develop
the first citizen-designed tennis dress to be worn in tournament
competition by a top ranked WTA Tour player.”
The winner will be announced on Fila’s Facebook page (Facebook.com/FilaUSA) on July 20, 2012.
