New York City is buzzing with excitement! Later today The Met will announce the winner of their fashion design competition celebrating The Costume Institute’s exhibit Rei Kawakubo / Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between.

Held at the world renowned Metropolitan Museum of Art, the In-Between Fashion Design Contest will showcase the work of 10 student designers and includes art making, conversations on fashion, photo booths and other activities.

And like in years past, the Academy of Art University is well represented, to say the least. In fact, four of the 10 finalists for this prestigious honor are fashion students from the School of Fashion.

YOU can have a say in who wins! The MetFridays: In-Between Fashion Design Contest winner will be decided by fan votes!

Voting begins on Friday, September 1 at 2pm PST/5pm EST. Visit The Met’s Facebook page to vote for your favorite designer. Last year, the coveted top prize at this event went to Academy of Art Fashion BFA student Alyssa Watson. Let’s keep the streak alive!

Finalists from the School of Fashion are:

Yifan Xu, Undergraduate School of Fashion
Maria Aalto, Graduate, School of Fashion
Snezana Anicic Graduate, School of Fashion
Changsheng Yu, Graduate, School of Fashion

Don’t forget to vote. And once you’ve voted, tell your friends to vote too!!

Then watch as the fan-favorite winner is announced live at 8 pm on Facebook and at event in The Met’s American Wing Café.

“It is an honor to be part of this competition because one of the designers I most admire is Rei Kawakubo,” said Academy graduate student Szezana Anicic. “She is definitely one of the reasons I am in fashion.”

“I have something I want to say to the world and this school [the Academy] has helped me with that,” adds graduate student Changsheng Yu.

Show your love for the Academy and our School of Fashion finalists by tuning in and voting for your favorite designer.

Follow along on social media with these hashtags and handles on both Twitter and Instagram: #AcademyUFashion #MetFridays, #TheMetCollegeGroup, #TheCostumeInstitute, and #TheMet and tag @AcademyUFashion @metmuseum. 

Remember to tune in live on Friday, September 1 at 2pm PST/5pm EST.