Read below to understand the full rules and regulations for Fashion Prize 2024. It includes details that may answer some of your burning questions about what’s required to compete and what Prize Foundation commits to on our end.
If you have questions, contact Chris Lyon: chris@prize.foundation.
Detailed rules for Fashion Prize 2024 are listed in the section titled “Complete Rules”. It may answer many of the questions you have!
If you have specific questions about the competition, rules, or requirements, please email Chris Lyon at chris@prize.foundation.
Fashion Prize is a fashion design competition beginning with the opening of registrations in February 2024 and culminating at Prize Fest in October 2024. In this competition, Designers who wish to participate must register with the Fashion Prize, produce a Collection of six (6) original looks, and meet the deadlines and requirements outlined below. Registration is free. Designers may only submit one collection.
You must complete and deliver your Collection of six (6) Looks by Tuesday, July 30, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. Central Time. A detailed explanation of what should be included when you turn in can be found in the “Fashion Collection Submission” section below.
The Fashion Prize Designer Portal is an online form where Designers will upload additional materials required to compete. Th is includes Designer headshot, biography, information about and inspiration behind your collection, information about your team (if any), brand information, and more. The completed Designer Portal must be fully completed and submitted by Tuesday, July 30, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. Central Time.
In order to be considered for the Fashion Prize’s cash award of $2,500, Designers must be able to prove the Collection is their original creation. Each collection must debut at Fashion Prize 2024 and must not have appeared in other competitions and/or showcases (except approved student class exhibitions) prior to the Fashion Prize. Individual pieces may appear elsewhere prior to competition, but the collection as a whole must be unique to the Fashion Prize 2024 competition. Evidence of the original design process must be submitted via the Designer Portal. Types of evidence include design sketches, progress photos, and records of materials acquisition (purchase orders or receipts, for example).
Both hand-made and manufactured Looks are eligible for Fashion Prize 2024 so long as they are your designs and meet the other criteria. All Looks in a Collection must be original to the Designer, independently produced and financed — no funding by commercial clothing brands). The Collection as a whole must not have appeared in other fashion design competitions, though some individual Looks or parts of Looks may have appeared elsewhere.
Designers must adhere to Universal Standard Sizing Guide. Designers are STRONGLY encouraged to design for a variety of body types — this not only makes your design more accessible to a variety of models, it also shows your versatility as a designer. https://www.universalstandard.com/pages/size-guides
While Designers are allowed to supply their own models for the Fashion Prize Runway Show and Rehearsal, Fashion Prize will make available a group of models available to Finalist Designers to showcase their Collection if the Designer is otherwise unable to recruit their own modeling team. Models made available through Fashion Prize will come in a wide array of body types and sizes, so if you are planning to rely on Fashion Prize to supply models, be sure to have a variety of sizes available in your Collection.
The designs that are submitted to Fashion Prize for consideration must be the designs that walk the runway during the competition. However, a Designer may elect to change the exact piece of clothing for another of the same pattern and style if it is required to fit a model. Other alterations may be made to fit your model of choice. Accessories may be added as well. The spirit of the competition is that the pieces that walk are the pieces you were selected on. Designers must communicate their intent to make changes prior to committing to those changes.
The Designer may assign a point of contact (POC) other than the Designer to communicate with the Fashion Prize staff – to ask questions on behalf of your project and to field inquiries from us. All decisions, questions, or concerns will be communicated with the POC only. From there, the POC may disseminate any pertinent information to the Designer and their team. This is to avoid confusion and prevent multiple calls about the same issue in or out of the office. If the POC is anyone other than the Designer who submits the registration form, that information must accompany the registration form in the field “Primary Contact” which will ask for name, email, and phone number for the POC.
We ask all Designers to keep their Collection as much out of public view prior to the Fashion Prize as is possible in order to facilitate an “unveiling” at the main event. If one or more of your Looks will appear elsewhere before competition, let the Fashion Prize staff know in advance.
After each Designer’s Looks are completed and submitted for consideration, the Top 5 Finalist Designers will be chosen by the Fashion Prize Selection Committee to compete during the Fashion Prize Runway Showcase at Prize Fest before a panel of nationally-recognized judges along with a live audience. The Grand Prize Winner will take home the $2,500 cash prize!
The deadline for submission of your Collection is Wednesday, June 30, 2023, at 5:00pm Central Time. Any submission arriving after this time will not be accepted under any circumstances. Collections should be mailed or hand-delivered to the Prize Foundation Offices inside the American Tower at 401 Market Street, Suite 860, Shreveport, LA 71101.
Once you have submitted, you will receive a feedback of your work by the Fashion Prize team with recommended fixes or adjustments. You are not required to make these changes, but they will be offered to you prior to the selection committee’s determination of the Fashion Prize Finalists. The notes largely center around completion and quality of stitching, etc.
Receipt of your completed Submission will be acknowledged by email to the e-mail address listed on your entry form. It may take up to 48 hours to send your confirmation. If you wait until the deadline date (Wednesday, June 30, 2023), it will take longer to process as we expect most of our Submissions to arrive during this time. You are welcome and encouraged to deliver your Collection for consideration earlier than this date.
To qualify to be a finalist for the Fashion Prize, each Designer must also COMPLETE AND SUBMIT an online form called the Designer Portal. The Designer Portal will be used to submit your digital assets such as, but not limited to, required design sketches and progress photos, a description of the techniques and skills used in your design process, description of materials used, the sourcing of those materials, a bio, headshot, W-9 tax form, etc as outlined below.
The Portal must be COMPLETED AND SUBMITTED alongside your Final Collection Submission by Tuesday, July 20, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. Failure to COMPLETE and SUBMIT the Designer Portal will disqualify a Collection from being selected as a finalist.
The Designer Portal will require the following assets:
Do not include any logos, text, or other watermarks on any photos. If you are selected to be a Finalist, you will have the chance to edit and resubmit these assets before the festival.
If you have trouble uploading images or other assets, please be sure to compress your files to be less than 5 megabytes each and try again. If you still have trouble, please reach out to chris@prize.foundation.
Finalists will be announced via live stream on the official Fashion Prize Facebook Page and via the Prize Fest website. Designer Finalists will be contacted via the contact information on your registration form.
Collections will be returned to the Designers after the Finalist announcement event. Finalists may only make modifications to their Collection if it does not significantly alter the originally-submitted design. No looks may be swapped for another. Modifications should primarily be focused on fitting to models for the Fashion Prize runway show, cleanup, and polish. No substantive changes to the design may be made.
Designers must be present for a mandatory In-Person Rehearsal on Saturday, October 12, 2024. If you cannot attend, you MUST notify the Fashion Prize at least 30 days in advance AND provide a replacement representative who will make final decisions on your behalf.
Each Fashion Designer not located within one (1) hour driving distance from Shreveport, Louisiana will be given hotel accommodations with a check-in date of Friday, October 11th through a check-out date of Sunday, October 13th. Finalists will also be eligible for up to $250 in travel reimbursement to travel to Shreveport.
The Designer gives the Prize Foundation permission to use their Collection and all submitted materials, including, but not limited to photos, video, brand logos, descriptions, Designer’s image or likeness, in any and all forms of media at the discretion of the Fashion Prize and the Prize Foundation for promotion, exhibition, etc.
FOLLOW UP REQUEST. The Fashion Prize requests that all competitor teams give significant consideration to the following requests:
Mentors are the heart of Fashion Prize’s offerings to designers. Their guidance provides real-world experience and consultation to participants of the competition which helps designers make changes to their business plan that are realistic and robust and, as a result, helps them become more appealing to investors and industry professionals that can help them reach success. Mentors report their experiences and opinions on each competitor’s collection that then help decide which collection makes it to the judges panel, which uses these experiences as one factor in selecting the Winner of the Grand Prize.
Prize Fest begins Friday, October 11, 2024. An Official Jury, made up of artists, critics, writers, designers, and educators views the public exhibition programs and award points to the Designer’s collection. The best designs are to be selected according to form, functionality, and emotional resonance of the apparels; the designs are to be considered for their degree of innovation, aesthetic qualities, choice of materials and fabric, the effectiveness of the technique, and sustainability practices. All criteria will be graded on a 100-point scale.
Creativity (20 points)
Consider how the designs stand-out. Do the designs make you want to see more of the designer’s work? Designs should represent original ideas.
Design (20 points)
Deigns should be flawless in execution. Take into consideration the detail and the time that the designer put into their submissions.
Resourcefulness (20 points)
Consider if the materials used are limited or specific to the design. This is especially true if the designer involves recyclable or unusual materials. Did the designer utilize sustainable practices?
Presentation (20 points)
Consider if the collection reads well as a whole and has a consistent theme. The music, hair, and makeup should add to the overall theme of the collection.
Mastery (20 points)
Consider how well the garments are made. Does the designer exhibit effective use and understanding of techniques? Details and embellishments should be flawless.
The winner will receive the option to participate in a showcase in Fashion Prize the following year to showcase their newest collection.