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Gainesville (FL) Teen Named Local Winner in The Art Institute of Tampa's Passion for Fashion Competition 2012

Jennifer Matthews of Gainesville has been named the local first place winner at The Art Institute of Tampa, a branch of Miami University of Art & Design, in The Art Institutes Passion for Fashion Competition in the Fashion Marketing & Merchandising and Retail Management category.

The Art Institutes Passion for Fashion Competition was created to encourage and reward young fashion talent.

The high school senior earned a $3,000 tuition scholarship to study fashion marketing and retail management at The Art Institute of Tampa.

In addition to her tuition scholarship, Matthews will progress to the national round of The Art Institutes Passion for Fashion Competition where her entry will be judged against other local winners from throughout North America for the Competition’s grand prize: a half-tuition scholarship to an Art Institutes school, and a VIP trip to New York City to include a “meet and greet” at Seventeen’s New York City offices, lunch and a $500 shopping spree at DKNY with a Seventeen Style Pro, and a $500 gift card to shop anywhere in the Big Apple.

“The best thing about fashion,” Matthews says, “is that it gives you the freedom to express yourself. Fashion has no limits – it’s whatever you make it!”

In the Fashion Design category, entrants were asked to create innovative and wearable evening wear designs.  In the Fashion Marketing & Merchandising and Retail Management category, competitors created concepts for fashion marketing, merchandising and retail management plans.

For more information on this year’s Art Institutes Passion for Fashion Competition, visit www.artinstitutes.edu/passionforfashion.


The Art Institute of Tampa, a branch of Miami International University of Art & Design, is one of The Art Institutes, a system of private, non-profit schools throughout the United States. Programs, credential levels, technology, and scheduling options vary by school and are subject to change. The Art Institute of Tampa, a branch of Miami International University of Art & Design, Parkside at Tampa Bay Park, 4401 North Himes Avenue, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33614-7086 © 2020 The Arts Institutes International LLC. All rights reserved.