April Yang !!!


Last week, we crowned our National Project Style 2012 Winner! She is April Yang! April is 19 years old and hails from Murrieta CA. She attends Palomar College where she studies Fashion Design and Visual Merchandising. April also has a fun Fashion & DIY YouTube Channel  that has recently hit over 31,000 subscribers and over 4 million views (!).


"Project Style" is a national contest organized by Forest City Centers to find the Next Top Trendsetter of the Country. Selected Forrest City Centers/Malls across the Country held local competitions looking for the next great Stylista--someone who could style a fab outfit using shopping gift cards. They also had to put videos of their outfits up for people to vote.


The top vote-getters then got  the chance for a "Live Style Off" at their local malls--some of which I had the pleasure of hosting! The winner of each "Live Style Off" received a Shopping Gift Card worth $1,000 and a chance for the National Prize--

A trip to NYC, attend a NY Fashion Week fashion show, a SoHo shopping trip (both with me!) and lots more!


Now, back to our winner: April Yang happens to be the Winner of Promenade Temecula's "Project Style" which I had the honor of hosting as well as judging not too long ago. At the time, she showed all of us (myself and the other judges) her individual style, great eye for color and professionalism. She also brought a HUGE crowd of family and friends to support her at the time--with big ol' posters and photos.


Subsequently, she was crowned "Project Style 2012 Temecula Mall" Winner, which put her in the running for the overall National Finals. She then competed against 14 other "Project Style 2012" regional winners for the Grand Prize. They all had to submit videos, photos and explanations on their outfits.


I've been part of "Project Style" for several years now and this year, I was made their Official Co-Spokesperson--along with the gorgeous and fabulous--Jeannie Mai of Style Network. Jeannie and I were two of the three Final National Judges. The other esteemed judge was:


Here are Photos of April's Winning Look:
 





Here are excerpts of what she said about her Project Style 2012 Winning Outfit:

South Bay Galleria Trendsetter Fab!


It's PROJECT STYLE Live Style Off time at various Forest City Centers across Southern California--and the US--and two weeks ago I had the honor of co-hosting--along with Style Network's "How Do I Look?" host Jeannie Mai--South Bay Galleria's edition of this fun and fabulous style competition.

Hosts With the Most: Project Style 2012 Spokespersons and Host Nick Verreos and Jeannie Mai

As you may know, both Jeannie Mai and I are the Official Spokespersons of Project Style 2012 and back in March, we shot a fun video, encouraging Trendsetters/Stylistas to put together looks, style themselves, shoot a mini video and put it up on the Project Style website--to eventually have a chance to win the Top Trendsetter prize and a $1000 Shopping Spree from the participating malls/centers. Then, all the 15 regional winners will go on to compete NATIONALLY for the Grand Prize--a trip for two to New York City during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week next year!


Now, back to South Bay Galleria's Live Style Off...I began the event with some fun introductions, and greeting all the shoppers, guests and family members/loved ones of the finalists who were all gathered at the Center Court of South Bay Galleria. I also had to do my traditional "Runway Blessing" (so none of the finalists would have a runway malfunction while on stage)...


Joining Jeannie and I to judge today was Sean Dennison (above far right) Personal Stylist manager of Nordstrom South Bay Galleria. Sean was really great in bringing his years of expertise and insight on styling to help in deciding who would win the Final Live Style Off prize of a $1000 South Bay Galleria Shopping Spree.

The Finalists:


Each of them got to do a runway walk showing their outfits that they put together:





Interview Portion: After their catwalks, Jeannie and I had a "one-on-one" interview asking each finalist about their looks, where they went shopping, their reasoning behind each look and how much did they spend (each was given a budget of $200 to shop in the mall/center).

Then it was Decision Time. And The Winner Is...

Tori Thompson!! (above, being interviewed by hosts Nick Verreos and Jeannie Mai) Tori is a budding fashionista, stylist and blogger (she has a great blog called MyThriftyChic.com--you can click HERE to check it out)--Her winning outfit consisted of a very Fall-appropriate sweater, grape-colored skinny jeans, a printed blouse, stacked pumps and a FAB oversized clutch with metal studs. We, the judges, felt that her look was pulled together and was perfectly styled. She also utilized the most out of the money that was given to her to shop and style herself.


Not only did she win the $1000 South Bay Galleria Shopping Spree prize, she also won the Fan Vote--where we asked their friends, shoppers and attendees to text their favorite contestant to a number and the one who received the most votes won "Fan Favorite", and $500 Galleria shopping spree. So, Tori won a total of $1500! You Go Girl!

After all the Congrats--we all posed for some fun photos and then Jeannie and I had a great Meet-and-Greet with shoppers, attendees and took lots of photos and signed autographs--Here are some of those pics:

So...WHO will Replace:

WHAT: Nick Verreos and Jeannie Mai Host South Bay Galleria's "Project Style 2012 Live    
              Style Off Finale"

WHERE: South Bay Galleria
                 1815 Hawthorne Boulevard
                 Redondo Beach, CA 90278
                 Center Court

WHEN: Saturday September 15, 2012
               Live Style Off: 2-3 PM
               Meet-and-Greet with Jeannie Mai and Nick Verreos 3-4PM 
               (Don't forget to bring your cameras/mobile phones, to take all the Facebook and
               Twitter photos you want!)
               
See YOU THERE!!!!!