2011 Judges

Kate BettsKate Betts

Kate Betts is the author of the new book Everyday Icon: Michelle Obama and the Power of Style. She is a contributing editor at TIME magazine and also a contributor to The Daily Beast. Previously, Betts was the editor in chief of Harpers Bazaar and the fashion news director of Vogue. Betts was recently named one of the top 10 fashion editors by Forbes magazine. She has appeared on network and cable television regularly since 1993, including The Today Show, The View and The Charlie Rose Show. She is a frequent contributor to NPRs Marketplace and has done regular reporting for CNN. A graduate of Princeton University, she resides in New York City with her husband and two children.

Nina Garcia

Nina Garcia

Nina Garcia is an industry authority who began her career in the fashion business in the early 1980s. Named fashion director of Marie Claire in September 2008, Garcia oversees the fashion coverage for Marie Claire, running the fashion department and attending top fashion shows. Additionally, Garcia is in her eighth season as a judge for the Lifetime channels primetime series Project Runway, where she serves alongside Michael Kors and Heidi Klum. She also is the author of The Little Black Book of Style, The One Hundred, The Style Strategy, and What to Wear For Every Occasion Look Book.

Laura Brown

Laura Brown

Harpers Bazaars features/special projects director Laura Brown joined the magazine in 2005. In addition to booking all of Bazaars covers, Laura puts the fun back in fashion: she sent The Simpsons to the Paris fashion shows, America’s greatest designers to Sesame Street and has collaborated with famed directors Mike Nichols, Pedro Almodovar and Tim Burton on film and fashion portfolios.

Brown broke the exclusive interview with Janet Jackson after the death of her brother Michael and has profiled Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Jennifer Aniston, Sarah Jessica Parker, Drew Barrymore, Kate Winslet, and Cameron Diaz, among others. She is a featured judge alongside Iman and Isaac Mizrahi on Bravos The Fashion Show and appears regularly on programs including Good Morning America, CNN American Morning, and Entertainment Tonight. Before joining Harpers Bazaar, Brown was articles director at Details and senior editor at W. She relocated to New York from Australia in 2001.

Alana KelenAlana Kelen

Fashion stylist and FIT alumna Alana Kelen uses her keen sense of clothing and accessories, along with a penchant for detail, to create unique, appropriate, and trend-setting images for television personalities and celebrities. Her forte is working with real people in real situations, helping to make them feel comfortable in the clothes they are wearing while looking amazing on air, in print and real life.

After graduating from FIT, Kelen worked at VH1 as a fashion stylist. Today, she remains with the company as head stylist of the VH1 Wardrobe department, while also consulting with MTV, NBC, Bravo, InStyle Magazine, Life & Style, Maxim, Billboard Magazine, Hollywood Life, Weight Watchers Magazine, Nautica, Michael Kors, Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, and many private clients and advertising agencies.

Siafa LewisSiafa Lewis

Known as a fashion and sports enthusiast, Siafa Lewis is a host on the WNBC-TV show LXNY, which airs daily at 5:00 pm. Since joining LXNY, Lewis has covered a variety of stories, from working with brokers on OpenHouse NYC to filling in for George Oliphant on To the Rescue to experiencing the finest New York City has to offer in dining, fashion and adventure on 1st Look NY. Siafa dabbled in acting and modeling before becoming an on-air reporter.
Hal Rubenstein
FIT, State University of New York

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