Released on: January 4, 2008, 7:10 am

Press Release Author: The Art Institutes

Industry: Apparel & Fashion

Press Release Summary: For teenagers who fantasize about a career in the fashion
industry, there may be no bigger opportunity to make that happen than The Art
Institutes Passion for Fashion Competition.

Press Release Body: For teenagers who fantasize about a career in the fashion
industry, there may be no bigger opportunity to make that happen than The Art
Institutes Passion for Fashion Competition.

High school seniors from across the U.S. and Canada send their best fashion designs
and fashion marketing, merchandising and retail management concepts to New York City
where a panel of fashion insiders and industry professionals judge their entries for
originality, design rationale and execution.

The panel of judges for the Passion for Fashion Competition 2008 includes: Mel Rose,
first runner-up on "America's Next Top Model" Season 7, now a fashion designer and
full-time model, and graduate of The Art Institute of California - San Francisco;
Stacey Monsen, a Men\'s Design Director for Steve & Barry\'s; Patty Hughes, of
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, who hosts a fashion segment on a national television
program; and Bruce Dempsey, Vice President, Academic Affairs Specialist for The Art
Institutes.

At stake is a full-tuition scholarship to study (i) Fashion Design or (ii) Fashion
Marketing, Fashion Merchandising or Fashion & Retail Management at The Art Institute
that each grand prize winner represents in the Competition. And for icing on the
cake, the grand prize winner in each category wins a trip to New York Fashion Week
and a chance to mingle with the staff of Seventeen magazine.

"Each year this Competition draws more talented teens that have a real love,
enthusiasm and talent for fashion. Every year the quantity and quality of the
students entering increases," says, Bruce E. Dempsey, Vice President, Academic
Affairs Specialist for The Art Institutes and lead judge in the Passion for Fashion
Competition 2008.

The theme for the Fashion Design category in the Passion for Fashion Competition
2008 is "evening wear." Judges will be looking for innovative and original
approaches to formal wear for both young men and women. The winners will be
announced next week in New York City.

For more information on The Art Institutes Passion for Fashion Competition 2008,
visit
http://www.artinstitutes.edu/Competitions/PassionForFashion.aspx?prid=p4f_0108_005_pr.

The Art Institutes (www.artinstitutes.edu) is a system of over 35 education
institutions located throughout North America providing an important source for
design, media arts, fashion and culinary arts professionals.

Contact:

Jacki Muller
Vice President, Public Relations
The Art Institutes
412.995.7262
jpmuller@aii.edu

Devra Pransky
The Art Institutes
412.995.7685
dpransky@aii.edu

Web Site: http://www.artinstitutes.edu

Contact Details: Jacki Muller
Vice President, Public Relations
The Art Institutes
210 Sixth Avenue, 33rd Floor
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
412.995.7262
jpmuller@aii.edu