BERNINA of America Partners With Fashion X to Present the BERNINA Blanc Design Challenge

AURORA, IL--(Marketwired - Sep 9, 2015) - BERNINA of America, the premier manufacturer of sewing, embroidery and quilting machines, is pleased to announce that it has partnered with Fashion X to present the BERNINA Blanc Design Challenge. U.S. residents of all ages who are interested in fashion are invited to submit sketches of an original, innovative, and well-constructed garment designed with an all-white color palette. Entries will be judged by industry leaders such as Michelle Lee, editor-in-chief of NYLON Magazine, designer Eileen Fisher, bloggers Jane Aldridge of Sea of Shoes and Courtney Kerr of What Courtney Wore, style icon Catherine Guidici Lowe of The Bachelor, and Project Runway Season 13 winner, Sean Kelly.

Twelve finalists will be invited to show their work on the runway at the Blanc Event produced by Fashion X in Austin on Friday, November 6. The winner will receive a $20,000 Grand Prize package which includes a BERNINA 790 (B 790) sewing machine with embroidery module, a BERNINA 1300 MDC serger, and the exclusive BERNINA suitcase system. Other prizes include garment production services from Trunkist and online fashion business classes with Fashion Business Accelerator 360. The Grand Prize winner and a Fan Favorite will be announced on Monday, November 9. 

"BERNINA inspires creativity for all experience and skill levels so the BERNINA Blanc Design Challenge is open to anyone with an interest in fashion," said Amy Gutierrez, Director of Marketing for BERNINA of America. "Judges will select the top 15 designs and online voters will choose five Fan Favorites. The 20 semi-finalist designs will then be posted to an online gallery for voting. Designers of the 12 most popular garments will have a chance to show their work on the runway during the BERNINA Blanc event in Austin on Friday, November 6." 

The BERNINA Blanc Design Challenge is accepting entries until Friday, September 18. All submissions must include garment design concept sketches, a concept description, and a designer biography. Garments may be created for any season, occasion, gender, or age using any design materials and tools. Materials must be uploaded to http://berninablanc.com by 11:59 p.m. on September 18. 

"We appreciate BERNINA's continued support of emerging fashion designers and are very excited to launch the BERNINA Blanc Design Challenge nationwide," said Matt Swinney, founder of Fashion X. "BERNINA has gone all out on this year's Grand Prize, and we look forward to seeing the design submissions that could be vying for the top award."

The B 790 is part of BERNINA's next generation 7 Series, which includes the BERNINA 770 Quilter's Edition (QE) and BERNINA 740. It offers cutting-edge technology, up to 10 inches of space to the right of the needle, and the new BERNINA Hook System with 9 mm width to provide superior stitch quality at up to 1,000 stitches per minute. The B 790 also comes standard with a new user interface with onscreen help, innovative functions like BERNINA Adaptive Thread Tension for perfect stitch quality front and back, and a fresh selection of stitches and embroidery designs. Other features include a programmable foot control and the BERNINA Stitch Regulator (BSR), which ensures that stitches are the exact same length when free-motion sewing. 

The BERNINA 1300 MDC serger offers a patented Micro Thread Control (MTC) system that allows precise adjustment of the over-edge thread length for optimal thread control. In addition, the serger's upper-knife arm can be swung out laterally from the locking mechanism to trim fabric edges, and the looper cover acts as a safety switch that can be automatically activated to prevent potential serger accidents. The BERNINA 1300 MDC also features an LCD screen that permanently displays all important stitch parameters at a glance to keep personal settings and default values of chosen stitches in constant view.

The exclusive BERNINA Suitcase System provides BERNINA sewing, quilting, and embroidery machines with a quality transportation system that requires effortless top and front machine loading. The premium system is lightweight, easy to transport and sports rugged wheels and a telescopic handle while offering 360 degrees of shock absorbing protection.

About BERNINA
Founded in Switzerland more than 100 years ago, BERNINA is the world's premier manufacturer with a proven reputation for offering quality state-of-the-art sewing, quilting and embroidery machines, overlockers/sergers, and embroidery software. BERNINA's leadership is marked by an impressive number of ambassadors, industry leaders, influencers and bloggers, who chose to partner with the company. BERNINA products are sold in the United States through a network of over 400 fully trained independent dealerships that also offer support and education. Select BERNINA and bernette machines, and BERNINA software can also be purchased through BERNINA's eCommerce site, shop.bernina.com. BERNINA products are designed for beginning to advanced sewists and priced to meet a variety of budgets, with new products being introduced every year. You can follow BERNINA on Facebook: www.facebook.com/berninausa, Instagram: @BERNINAUSA, and Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/WeAllSew, and read BERNINA's WeAllSew blog at www.weallsew.com. To learn more about BERNINA and to find a Dealer, visit www.bernina.com or call (630)978-2500.

About Fashion X
Fashion X produces high end live fashion events such as Austin Fashion Week (afw.fashionxaustin.com) and Fashion X Dallas (fashionxdallas.com) which showcase emerging fashion designers alongside national brands and sponsors. Fashion X events are attended by industry leaders, but are also ticketed to the general public, giving engaged consumers a rare opportunity to experience high quality runway production. Fashion X live events are enhanced with year-round original content and a strong social presence targeted to the individual geographic markets. With recent media coverage from WWD, Southern Living Magazine (Austin was named a top 5 fashion week in the South), RackedLA, Elle Magazine, Fashionista.com (the "fashion week to watch"), and many more, Fashion X empowers significant exposure for emerging designers. More information at www.fashionx.co or email Matt Swinney, matt@fashionx.co.