Disney Partners With Otis College of Art and Design on ‘Frozen’-Inspired Design Competition

Disney is launching its own “Project Runway”-style design competition, partnering with Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles to give its students the opportunity to create contemporary apparel inspired by the hit animated film “Frozen.”

Six students were challenged to channel their personal style into creations for lead characters, Elsa, Anna and Olaf. To inspire Southern California style, students were given the themes “Downtown Chic,” “Beach Boho” and “Hollywood Glam.”

“The story of ‘Frozen’ is known the world over, and the collaboration with Otis School of Design allowed us to create new looks inspired by its beloved characters through a Millennial fashion lens, connecting with our fans in a totally unexpected and elevated way. This collaboration also gave us the opportunity to provide a platform for young design talent,” said Josh Silverman, executive vice president of global licensing at Disney.

The 11 winning pieces – eight women’s and three men’s designs -will retail from $100 to $300 on direct-to-consumer online platform Nineteenth Amendment, created for independent designers to sell and manufacture pieces on-demand in domestic factories.

“True to our mission, we believe that combining creativity with technology leads to the future of fashion and both Disney and Otis are great partners in bringing that vision to life,” said Amanda Curtis and Gemma Sole, cofounders of Nineteenth Amendment.

The judging panel includes Jill Higashi-Zeleznik, professor of fashion design for Otis; Luis Fernandez, senior vice president of creative at Disney; Heather Laing-Obstbaum, vice president of product development at Disney; Curtis, and Shelby Chambers, content strategy manger and editor of Disney Style.

“The Disney Competition was a tremendous opportunity to experience Disney’s creative culture in depth and use this knowledge to design a collection for the fashion-forward Millennial customer,” said Higashi-Zeleznik.

Disney Digital Networks will launch the four-part web series documenting the process on Disney Style today.

Watch the episode here:

The final episode revealing the winning designs will air live from D23 Expo on July 14, after which they will be immediately shoppable on NineteenthAmendment.com.

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