Z Spot New York

EVENT INFO

DATE: November 20, 2008

LOCATION: Arena - 135 West 41st Street, New York City

EVENT OVERVIEW:

The third event in the Z Spot series will take place at Arena in New York City and follow a fashion and design theme. The evening will kick off with a panel discussion on the relationship between fashion, style, design and technology. The panel will be moderated by a celebrity stylist, Phillip Bloch and feature five panelists from the top of their fields including Parson’s Professor: Sabine Seymour, Fashion designer Kevin Leong, ID Magazine editor: Jill Singer, AOL Technology blogger: Thomas Samiljan and House of Diehl creator: MJ Diehl.

Following the panel guests will be treated to a live fashion event produced by the House of Diehl where students from NY’s top fashion and design schools will be competing in a live “Style Wars Battle” where they create couture designs on live models using photographs inspired by the different colors of Fujifilm's FinePix Z20fd. A group of celebrity judges will provide commentary on the live fashion and chose the winner.

Information on our panel moderator and all the panelists can be found below:

MODERATOR:

Phillip Bloch will be hosting the ceremony! Known as the "Fashion Guru," Phillip is a celebrity stylist for the likes of Halle Berry, Will Smith and Jennifer Lopez. This Fall he is launching his own show "Glam God" on VH1, in addition to his regular appearances on most major morning and talk shows. Also, he is a contributing writer to InStyle, Elle, and Detour.

PANELISTS:

Sabine Seymour is a professor at Parsons The New School for Design, the leading design and art education university in the country. Professor Seymore recently wrote a new book “Fashionable Technology, The Intersection of Design, Fashion, Science, and Technology,” which will give much insight into the panel topic.

Fashion designer Kevin Leong is the head designer for Baby Phat and Phat Farm. Other clients include Simmons Jewelry, Playstation (limited edition 18K gold and black diamond), Motorola (limited edition phones/phone cases), T-Mobile Sidekick, Curious George clothing line, GMC Denali and Run Athletics Arthur Ashe Legacy sneakers. .

MJ Diehl is the co-founder, and creative director of House of Diehl, a New York-based, multidisciplinary design company at the cutting edge of art, pop-culture, and interactive design. With her partner Roman Milisic, MJ has created award-winning fashion collections, as well as high-profile cultural events that transcend the boundaries between fashion, art and entertainment and, most importantly, between audience and artist. House of Diehl¹s provocative work includes the much buzzed-about Style Wars Tour, and Instant Couture live fashion performances to thousands of people around the world. MJ first turned to fashion in 2001, originating the groundbreaking Instant Couture process. Her goal: to unleash the power of fashion to transform, connect and communicate more intimately than any art form. Educated in Philosophy at Wesleyan University, MJ is a native New Yorker. Her first couture designs, created in 2002, were nominated for Gen Art Styles and Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation awards. She is the winner of the Triumph International Fashion Competition 2005. Her latest design collection, Freedom, tests the boundaries of both fashion and technology, presenting a series of modular, interconnecting garments incorporating concepts at the cutting edge of wearable technology. Functioning as an extension of ourselves, freedom is socially and scientifically aware fashions that combine the devices we use and the clothes we wear into a second skin, allowing the wearer to truly live life uncluttered, unrestrained, in pure experience.

Tom Samiljan is a freelance technology writer and blogger based in New York. He was technology director of Cargo, until it closed in spring 2006. He works full-time for AOL’s gadget blog Switched.com and freelances for a number of other publications, including covering tech and gadgets for Rolling Stone.

Jill Singer, Jill Singer is the managing editor of I.D. Magazine, and a New York-based freelance writer. Her writing on design, fashion, and culture has appeared in The New York Times' T Magazine, New York Magazine, V Magazine, and Print, among others.

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NEW YORK // THE Z COUTURE: TECH & FASHION PANEL CONTEST

Gone are the days when you just checked for your keys and wallets before you walked out the door. Now you make sure you have your smart phone, digital camera, portable music player and laptop. As these gadgets fast become everyday accessories, we are beginning to see a convergence between technology and fashion as designers from both worlds are being asked to blend the two.

This is where we wanted to hear from you...

The New York 'Z Couture' contest has now closed, but check out all the great entries here. The winners will soon be announced so check back soon for details. Our 4 finalists will each take a FinePix Z20fd digital camera and our grand prize winner will win a VIP trip to the Z Spot New York event to cover the Fashion & Design Panel and House of Diehl Style War for the Z Spot Now.