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Cool vs. Cruel 2006 Awards Dazzle

November 21, 2006


	©2006	Patrick McMullen
	Designer Jay McCarroll and Dancing with the Stars winner Cheryl Burke

Animals and animal advocates both had reason to be glad at the second annual Cool vs. Cruel fashion design contest awards ceremony, a partnership between The HSUS and The Art Institutes that challenges fashion students to create animal-friendly reinterpretations of designer fur garments.

Fresh from her win the night before on the hit show Dancing with the Stars, professional dancer Cheryl Burke joined designer Jay McCarroll, artist Peter Max and other boldface names to celebrate fur-free fashion at Sol nightclub in New York City.

Attendees were able to view the 13 finalists' designs, as well as meet the top three winners: Marisa Widjojo, Ricardo Auguste and Neisha Orr. See pictures of their winning designs below.

Widjojo was flown in to accept first place for her layered dress and faux seal fur wrap. The designer, from the Art Institute of Seattle, will get a taste of what it takes to be a professional in the industry when she interns with a designer in New York as part of her grand prize.

Demonstrating his ability to deliver excellent fashion year after year, the Art Institute of New York's Auguste built on his 2005 third place finish to take second this time. He used velvet and fringe instead of fur on his woven purple dress.

First time entrant Orr, from The Art Institutes Bradley Academy for the Visual Arts, won third place for a tweed suit with faux-fur trim.

This year's judges were designer Jay McCarroll, designer Marc Bouwer, Mickey Boardman of Paper magazine, actress Elizabeth Berkley, designer Atom Cianfarani, design house Duckie Brown, TV personality Jenna Morasca and Shelly Vella, fashion director of Cosmopolitan UK.

As part of the contest, hundreds of fashion design students from participating Art Institutes schools attended an HSUS presentation that included footage of the cruelty that takes place to produce fur. See the cruelty of fur for yourself in footage introduced by Jay McCarroll.