New York, NY, October 16, 2008 -- MyItThings.com (http://www.myitthings.com), the leading publisher of user-generated fashion content, last night announced that New York’s Wakana Koike is the winner of the It Designer Contest, the largest ever online designer contest. 

"It's rare to find a designer who's vision is so original and unique, yet very wearable and can fit in any fashionista’s wardrobe. Wanamaker is a true fashion artist, and I'm sure many women out there (including myself) would love to be canvases for her work," says MyItThings founder Yuli Ziv.

Koike faced an incredibly competitive field. Hundreds of designers submitted their portfolios and nearly one hundred thousand votes were cast by the MyItThings’ (http://MyItThings.com) community.

Koike as well as two of the contests finalists Nora Del Busto of Chicago and Adolfo Sanchez of Las Vegas faced off in a star-studded runway show in New York City, which was also streamed live on MyItThings.com.  Photos of the event are now available at http://MyItThings.com/itdesigner/photos. 

Superstar models including America’s Top Model Jaslene Gonzalez and Lisa Nargi, the model-winner of the last Project Runway season, walked the runway. Fashion expert Mary Rambin from NonSociety hosted the event.

Koike was chosen as the winning designer by an all-star panel of judges including “Project Runway” alum Malan Breton, Designers Keith Lissner and Kathlin Argiro, Design Expert Greg Littley, Style Expert Hitha Prabhakar and MyItThings’ Yuli Ziv as well as the MyItThings.com community.

Wakana has been awarded a $5,000 Grand Prize, as well as exclusive collection sale on MyItThings.com. 

NYC based Wakana is originally from Tokyo, Japan. She studied at Department of Crafts at Joshibi University of Art and Design. After graduating, she worked for Tsumori Chisato as a textile designer for five years. She managed the production of her own print fabrics, which designed by hand and also using Photoshop and Illustrator.

A portion of the proceeds from the event will go to the charity Fashion Delivers, which provides products from the fashion industries to victims of natural disasters.

Sponsors for the event included Sassoon Salon, DEX New York, Direct Model Management, The Event Space, Kathlin Argiro, Kirin, Casa De Vinos, Hint Water, Forward Motion Theater, Hors La Monde, RTR Packaging and modaCYCLE. The models wore jewelry by Allison Daniel Designs and shoes by Spring and Pring Paris.

About MyItThings

 MyItThings.com is a leading publisher of user-generated content and one of the most influential online fashion communities. MyIthings.com was developed by 2BrainsMeida, a New York based Web 2.0 company.

Media contact: Mark Pasetsky, 212.243.8543, mp@markallenco.com