Rebecca Minkoff is targeting the Tumblr community to boost awareness for her upcoming spring collection show at New York Fashion Week in September, inviting Tumblr's artists, models and photographers to take part in a T-shirt and tote campaign with Nordstrom.
Artists are asked to submit T-shirt and tote designs, models to submit their pictures and photographers to submit their portfolios to [email protected] by July 25. The criteria for the designs is rather open-ended: Minkoff calls for collages, graphics, illustrations and prints "inspired by our favorite type of woman: strong and feminine." For more submission details, see Minkoff's Tumblr.
Winners will be determined by a panel of judges -- Tumblr founder and CEO David Karp, Nordstrom EVP of Designer Merchandising Jeffrey Kalinsky and Minkoff herself -- and announced on July 30.
The winning T-shirt design will make its way down the runway at Minkoff's Sept. 6 show and will available for purchase, along with a tote, on the same day at Nordstrom stores, Nordstrom.com and RebeccaMinkoff.com. Each of the winners will also receive a $5,000 reward.
This isn't the first time Minkoff has sought to involve online communities in her runway shows. In 2011, the designer used social styling platform Polyvore to select a stylist for a show. While some may view the initiative as obvious or gimmicky, it seems like a smart way to build awareness and anticipation for the show.