MANILA, Philippines - New York-based Filipino fashion designer Robin Tomas has been selected as a finalist in the Supima Design Competitions in New York City. Robin is one of the final six designers to compete in the annual Supima Design Competition in New York City, to be held at the New York Times Center in the newly built New York Times building in Manhattan.
Founded in 1954, Supima is the promotional organization of the American Pima cotton growers. The board of directors of this nonprofit organization is composed of Pima growers from the states of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. All members pay a voluntary per-bale assessment to support Supima’s marketing and promotional activities.
As its inspiration, Supima looked to the legendary Wool Secretariat competition that launched the careers of the then-teenaged designers Yves St. Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld.
Out of 50 applicants who participated in the Supima open call held on Oct. 21, 2009 at Bloomingdale’s department store, Robin was initially selected as one of 12 semifinalists to move on to the next round of judging held on Oct. 27, where six finalists were chosen and will participate in the runway show on Jan. 19. The finalists will feature three evening gown designs in woven, knit and denim fabrications, respectively, plus a knit T-shirt design. The winning evening gown entry will be promoted by Supima while the T-shirt design winner will have his or her design featured in Bloomingdale’s.
The runway show will be attended by New York’s fashion editors and buyers, as it will simultaneously be held during New York’s Fashion Week for fall 2010.
Robin is a graduate of Parsons School of Design in New York and debuted his own label at Philippine Fashion Week in May 2009, where he presented 43 pieces.