“This is a wonderful opportunity for Malden Mills,” states Carol Valianti, Malden Mills Director of Marketing. “By partnering with FIT’s world-renowned Fashion Design program, we are exposing an entire wave of up-and-coming designers to our fabrics and fabric technologies.”

Morgan Shapero of Vancouver, British Columbia, a sixth semester student majoring in Fashion Design, was awarded first place. The winning garment Shapero designed for the Polartec® competition was influenced by the sport of skydiving and utilized highly technical, lightweight Polartec® Power Shield®. Shapero wanted the piece to exude a feeling of comfort. She achieved this by adding volume through topstitching details and quilting. She also kept functionality in-mind by her inclusion of pockets and the high collar for warmth.

“We are very excited that we were given this opportunity,” says Sass Brown, assistant professor, Fashion Design-Apparel, at FIT, where they offer an Outerwear and Performance Apparel certificate program. “Polartec® is a very respected brand within the apparel industry and we feel fortunate to be able to expose students to high-functioning fabrics in such an interactive way.”

The competition started in fall 2004. It was open to the entire student body as well as those enrolled in the Performance Apparel Design courses. The only criterion was that the end result must be suitable for wear. Competitors were allowed to use a series of high performance Polartec® fabrics in each of the three fabric families: next-to-skin, insulation, and weather protection. After narrowing the field from 12 finalists to three, one winner was chosen in mid-January by both FIT staff and Malden employees.

Shapero will attend the winter Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City at the end of January. Malden Mills will display the winning garment in the Polartec® booth (#3659) alongside other industry award-winning garments that are made of Polartec® fabrics.

For more information on FIT, visit www.fitnyc.suny.edu. To learn more about Polartec® and the Polartec®--FIT competition, visit www.polartec.com or visit the Polartec® booth at Outdoor Retailer, #3659.

FIT launched the Outerwear and Performance Apparel certificate program in spring 2002, the first of its kind in the United States. A college of art and design, business and technology of the State University of New York (SUNY), FIT offers more than 30 programs leading to the AAS, BFA, BS, MA, and MPS degrees. Among FTI’s best-known alumni are Calvin Klein and his new successor, Francisco Costa, David Chu, founder of Nautica, Norma Kamali, John Bartlett, Stephen Burrows, and Nanette Lapore. Last year, The Unofficial, Unbiased Guide to the 328 Most Interesting Colleges, issued by Kaplan, listed FIT, saying “FIT gives you elite Seventh Avenue connections and conservatory-type training at a public school price.”

Based in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Malden Mills is the worldwide producer of high-quality Polartec® branded fabrics used in products that require extreme performance. For more information please visit our website at www.polartec.com.