Ms. Sousa's creation was selected from more than 5600 entrants in the sixth annual contest, and the colour will be sold at CHANEL Beaute counters nationwide and on Gloss.com.

She will be honored and "Black Tie" will be unveiled in both a nail colour and lip Glossimer at a press conference and launch to be held at the CHANEL Beaute counter at Bloomingdale's on 59th Street and Lexington Avenue in New York City on January 7, 2003 at 2:00 pm EST.

As the national winner, Ms. Sousa receives a trip for two to New York where she and "Black Tie" will be unveiled to the world. "Black Tie" will be custom-manufactured by CHANEL and sold in classic CHANEL packaging and available in a matching Glossimer lip-gloss to compliment the winning nail colour. The new products are featured in a photo spread in the February 2003 issue of seventeen, available on newsstands now.

"The CHANEL Colour of the Year contest gives rising stars who are interested in a career in the beauty industry their first opportunity to create an original product and have it brought to market," said Jean Hoehn Zimmerman, executive vice president, CHANEL Sales and Marketing. "During the past five years, this contest has succeeded at not only identifying new young, creative talent, but at attracting a whole new generation to the CHANEL brand."

Lindsay Sousa deserves special recognition as this year's winner of the Colour of the Year contest. Lindsay entered the contest and was selected as a top 20 finalist for the past three years. Her determination and passion puts her in good company -- after all, it took five perfume submissions before Coco Chanel selected and perfected the classic No5 scent! Reminiscent of champagne and ice, "Black Tie" is "inspired by the elegance, beauty and poise of Coco Chanel," said Ms. Sousa in her winning entry. Some of the past winning colours from the seventeen and CHANEL contest have become big sellers for CHANEL and been incorporated as regular additions to the colour palette of the beauty line.

"Now in its sixth year, the Colour of the Year contest has proven to be an exciting program which allows seventeen's 14.5 million readers the opportunity to personally interact with their favorite magazine, as well as a prestigious beauty brand like CHANEL," said Ellen Abramowitz, publisher of seventeen. "The combination of these two powerful brands truly captures the attention of readers, allowing them to challenge themselves, their individuality and creativity to literally invent a beauty product to call their own. Seventeen is so pleased to share this influential partnership with CHANEL, and to showcase the CHANEL brand to our fashion and beauty conscious readers that pore over the pages of the magazine each month."

While in New York Ms. Sousa will also tour both the CHANEL and seventeen offices.

She will receive a $1,000 cash prize, a CHANEL makeover and products, and a gift from seventeen.

Thousands of seventeen readers entered by sending their colour creations in the form of paper and fabric swatches, favorite beads; or blends of paints or crayons. There were no boundaries to the creative process. Each entrant gave her shade a CHANEL-worthy name and provided a written summary of what inspired the signature shade.