NEW YORK, May 25, 2007/ FW/ --- Gen Art’s 9th Annual International Design Competition and Fashion Show was held last Tuesday, May 22 at the Hammerstein Ballroom with 1600 guests attending. Sponsored by Eos Airlines, $35,000 worth of prizes was awarded to the winners.

With six categories at stake: Women’s Eveningwear, Women’s Ready-to-Wear, Menswear, Women’s Avant Garde, Accessories and the Perrier “Bubbling Under” Award, Robert Verdi of ‘Fashion Police’ on E! hosted the event.

A distinguished of panel judges composed of well-known designers like Cynthia Rowley, Rebecca Taylor, John Bartlett, Trina Turk, Reem Acra and industry experts Isabel Dupre of Elle Magazine, Supermodel Liya Kebede, IMG’s Fern Mallis, Mary Alice Stephenson and Michael Vollbracht of Bill Blass judged the competition.

Seeking to combine femininity with modern aesthetics for a whimsical and wearable style, e.y. wada, is the combined vision of Japanese-born Shuji Wada and Korean-born Eunyoung Song.

A graduate of Mode Fashion Technical College in Nagoya, Japan, Shuji worked as a patternmaker for three years before moving to New York in 2001. Using his patternmaking skills as the key to enter the highly competitive 7th Avenue scene, Shuji found himself working for Marc Jacobs, Zac Posen, Richard Chai, Thakoon, TSE, to name just a few before launching e.y. wada with Eunyong Song.

Song, who studied fashion at Seoul Women’s University moved to New York in 2001. Honing her skills under DNKY and Ellen Tracy, she was part of a design collective Urbanindustria before teaming up with Shuji.

The design duo’s winnings of $5000 for the Ready-to-Wear competition will help expand their retail base which already includes 115 in New York as well as boutique in California and Japan.

Based in New York, FORM is a design collective dedicated to designing original womenswear infused with a modern sense of luxury.

Founded by Jerry Tam, Kelly Andrews and Eric Werner joined later as Kelly Andrews Artistic Director and Director of Operations, respectively.

The creative force behind the label, Jerry Tam studied couture at Fashion Institute of Technology as well as fashion at Parsons School of Design. He worked with Imitation of Christ, Perry Ellis and Zac Posen before starting his own line.

FORM seeks to reintroduce fashion to the modern woman. The line is sold at Eva in New York, Creatures of Comfort and Curve in Los Angles and Arrive in Miami. Form was awarded $5000 for winning the Eveningwear Competition.

This is FORM’s second win at Gen Art, the first one being Gen Art ‘New Garde’.

An artist and graphic designer by profession, Derrick R. Cruz, founder of Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons left his roots in Puerto Rico when he was 17. Reaching manhood after he left his native land, Cruz’s work was influenced by the diaspora effect and how it spawns new mythologies.

As cultural alchemy, his jewelry combines seemingly disparate technologies, materials and archetypes to create new “objects for remembering.” To emphasize his narrative, each piece is meticulously handcrafted and delivered in handmade packaging.

Established in the summer of 2006, Black Sheep and Prodigal Sons are already being sold at Bblessing in New York, Scout in L.A., Base in Miami as well as stores in Australia, Japan and Canada, a sure sign of its unique artistry and commercial viability.

Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons was awarded $5,000 for winning the Accessories Competition.

Tokyo natives Aki Sato and Yusuke Amatsu met in 2003 after studying design at Tokyo’s Bunka University and Mode Fashion College, respectively. They moved to New York to pursue their dreams of designing their own line in 2004.

For the past three years, they have been designing menswear and costumes for films as well as collaborating with various artists. The Japanese design duo was awarded $5000 for winning the Menswear Competition.

A fashion design graduate from the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, Dragana Rikanovic was awarded for her work by the Austrian Federal Chancellery before moving to London to pursue her career in design.

She has worked with Viktor & Rolf, Raf Simons and is currently designing for Hussein Chalayan.

In addition to designing apparel, Dragana also creates accessories. She was awarded $5000 for winning the Avant Garde category.

The most coveted prize for the evening, the $10,000 Perrier “Bubbling Under” Award went to Madison, Wisconsin native Wanda Marie Sanders, a graduate of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Inspired by the costumes she saw in films and vintage clothing, Wanda began drawing starlets and designing clothes for them at an early age, long before she attended fashion school.

She has received numerous awards for her work, including first prize in Air France's International Young Designer Competition held in Paris, France. Her winning garment was placed in the permanent costume collection of the Louvre Museum.

Wanda has worked not only in the fashion industry but in the film industry as well. Drawing on her experiences in fashion, entertainment and the arts, she combines her love of details, texture and fabric manipulation to create an eclectic blend of past and present silhouettes.

For more information about Gen Art and the Styles 2007 competition, please log on: www.genart.com