The search, which started last summer, was open to high school seniors scheduled to graduate in 2006 with a minimum GPA of 2.0.

The contest had two categories: Fashion Design and Fashion Marketing & Merchandising. In the Fashion Design category, the entry features an original design by the student in the form of a finished garment or accessory. In the Fashion Marketing & Merchandising category, a finished product or plan was submitted.

Among the thousands of entries submitted for the Fashion Design category, Elana Bloom, a senior at Alexander W. Dreyfoos Jr. School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, Florida, bested them all with a tunic-length top in brown silk with sleeves lined in contrasting purple silk.

In her rationale for the design, Bloom said, "I wanted to create a chic, modern design that would work well for a woman's busy lifestyle. The silk allows movement, and the rich brown color can go easily from day to evening."

According to Bruce E. Dempsey, Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs for The Art Institutes and a competition judge, Bloom's first place winning design was "wearable, elegant and flattering."

A native of Boca Raton, FL, Bloom will receive a full tuition scholarship worth approximately $70,000 to study fashion design at The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. Her winning design will be featured in the pages of ELLEgirl magazine. She will also enjoy an all-expense paid trip to New York to attend Fashion Week.

Karlee Smith, a senior at South Forsyth High School and a native of Cumming, Georgia won the first place prize in the Fashion Marketing & Merchandising category with her ‘HEY GIRL’ retail design approach.

Smith's "HEY GIRL" concept offers up and coming designers promotional assistance using a four-part promotional package for a flat fee, including a preferred customer card, planner, invitation and fashion show.

Smith will receive a full tuition scholarship to study fashion marketing & merchandising at The Art Institutes California Design College in Los Angeles, CA.

Dempsey said the judges were impressed with the level of sophistication among the entries and most surprisingly, "for high school students, we saw a real vision in what these students felt fashion could communicate. For them, fashion was obviously not just about something to wear or market, but about how it can positively impact the world around us."

In addition to Dempsey, the judging panel included ELLEgirl editors, Laurie Trott, ELLEgirl's Fashion Director, Linnea Olson Schwartz, ELLEgirl's Market Director for Fashion, Princess Warren, a fashion design/fashion marketing alum from The Art Institute of Philadelphia and runner-up on the Tommy Hilfiger reality show "The Cut," Stacey Monsen, Men's Wear Designer for Macy's Corporation and Patty Hughes, director of volunteers for New York "Fashion Week."

For more information on the competition, visit www.artinstitutes.edu/teenfashion.

The full competition results are as follows:

First place full tuition scholarship winners:

Second place half tuition scholarship winners:

Third place one-third tuition scholarship winners: