NEW YORK, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- For teenagers who fantasize about a career in the fashion industry, an opportunity to help make that happen is The Art Institutes Passion for Fashion Competition.

High school seniors from across the U.S. and Canada submitted their best fashion designs and fashion marketing, merchandising and retail management concepts to a participating Art Institutes school. The top entries from each school are then sent 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 2009 includes: Suede, contestant on Project Runway Season 5 and fashion designer; Eva Snopek, fashion designer at Calvin Klein; Patty Hughes, of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week; Ashley Granata, Marketing Manager at Style.com; and Bruce E. Dempsey, Vice President, Academic Affairs Specialist, 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 school the entrant represents in the Competition. And as 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 2009.

For more information on The Art Institutes Passion for Fashion Competition, visit www.artinstitutes.edu/pr.aspx?ID=p4f096.

The Art Institutes (www.artinstitutes.edu) is a system of over 40 education institutions located throughout North America providing an important source for design, media arts, fashion and culinary arts professionals.

SOURCE The Art Institutes