Be on the lookout for Shanice's winning t-shirt design available exclusively on Zappos.com this March!
As you may remember, Zappos recently teamed up with C&C California and College Fashionista for The Ultimate T-Shirt Design Contest. The judges have made their decision, and the winning design belongs to Shanice White, a design student from Virginia.
Needless to say, Shanice was very excited to have one of her designs come to life!
“When I found out I won, I was speechless! I entered the contest and didn’t really think that I would even become one of the finalists, much less win, so it was very exciting. Winning was also very humbling. I am very grateful of the support I got from friends, family, classmates and the Fashion Department at VCU. As a Design student, you only think about the day that one of your designs is put into production, and to have this opportunity to have one of my designs produced and sold is really extraordinary. When I think about it, it’s almost unreal! My hope is that when people wear my shirt, they feel comfortable, cool, and stress-free. I want my shirt to be something that anyone can incorporate into their wardrobe, regardless of their personal style.” says Shanice
We asked our talented winner a couple of questions to learn more about her own personal style and what inspired her C&C California creation.
Your winning t-shirt design is so casual-chic; what or who was your biggest inspiration for the overall design?
SW: When I was designing, my main inspirations were the people I envisioned wearing it, meaning I had both the C&C California customer and the College Fashionista customer in mind. I wanted to design something that reflected the laid-back attitude of the C&C California brand, and something that was also interesting enough to appeal to the College Fashionista set. Essentially, I wanted to design something that would fit easily into C&C California’s existing line. I saw that they were using a lot of stripes and I wanted to incorporate stripes into my design, just in a different way. I played around with the direction of the stripes and decided to break them up with a solid shape.
Are you in the fashion design industry or go to school for it?
SW: Yes, I am currently a senior in the Fashion Design Department at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. I’m graduating in May!
Who are your top 3 fashion icons?
SW: When I think about fashion icons, it’s not solely about clothes to me. It’s about the overall attitude of the person. While they don’t have a blatant influence on the way that I dress, I still find the following people very inspiring.
-Missy Elliot. She’s fearless in everything that she does, be it fashion, music, video concepts, etc. She’s amazing, and she’s from Virginia!
- Grace Jones. I love her androgynous look and very striking appearance.
- Frida Kahlo. Aside from being an amazing artist, she embraced both masculine and feminine styles during a time when that wasn’t really acceptable for women.
What do you love about the C&C California brand?
SW: I love so many things about C&C California! I love how easy to wear and versatile the clothes are. I also really like the fact that they are updated basics. Everyone needs simple sweaters, t-shirts and dresses in their wardrobe, and C&C provides these essentials, but with a little twist. I also love that a lot of their garments are produced in the United States.
Everyone has their wardrobe staples. What are your absolute clothing essentials that you can’t live without?
SW: I like to keep it casual.
- a brown lace-up bootie for the fall and a classic loafer for the spring
- sweaters of all types: cardigans, vintage, turtleneck. I love them all!
- some sort of hat or patterned scarf (for turbans!)
- subtle jewelry
