ESSENCE Launches It Girl: Nationwide Model Search in Partnership With Elite Model Management

NEW YORK, Feb. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, ESSENCE kicks off the ESSENCE It Girl model search in partnership with Elite Model Management.  In an effort to address the lack of diversity on the runways, ESSENCE and Elite will conduct a nationwide search for the new African-American "It" model.  The winner -- to be announced in May -- will be featured in the September 2010 Fall Fashion issue of ESSENCE magazine and receive a one-year contract with Elite Model Management.

"If you have the beauty, talent and ambition to take over the fashion world, ESSENCE is asking you to show us that you are the new It Girl," says Essence.com Managing Editor, Emil Wilbekin. "We are excited to partner with Elite Model Management to find the next African-American model and to welcome her to the fashion industry.  Even better…our audience can weigh in with their votes online and watch the competition unfold in the Making of an It Girl web series on Essence.com. What better way to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of ESSENCE than by celebrating the unique beauty of African-American women?"

Live castings will be conducted in Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York and photos will be accepted online at www.essence.com/itgirl.  An expert panel of judges comprised of ESSENCE editors, Elite managers and fashion industry VIPs will attend each of the open castings to evaluate the entrants and 5 finalists will be flown to New York City for a special modeling boot camp, which will be documented for the Making of an It Girl web series on Essence.com.  The Essence.com audience will cast their votes online to help select the grand prize winner from the 5 finalists.

"We are very excited about the possibility of finding a model who best represents the African-American community as a whole and who will further broaden what is considered beautiful in the world of fashion," says Calvin Wilson, Model Manager, Elite Model Management.  "As leaders in the modeling industry, we feel the collaboration with the ESSENCE brand is a match made in heaven."

ESSENCE It Girl promotional partners include The Gershwin Hotel and Professional Services Firm Travel, LLC (in association with Valerie Wilson Travel, Inc.).

About Essence Communications Inc.:

Essence Communications Inc. (ECI) is the leading media and communications company dedicated to African-American women.  With a multi-platform presence in publishing, live events, and online, the Essence brand is "Where Black Women Come First".  The company's flagship publication, ESSENCE magazine, is the preeminent lifestyle magazine for African-American women; generating brand extensions such as the Essence Music Festival, the ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon, Window on Our Women (WOW I & II) and Smart Beauty I, II & III consumer insights, the Essence Book Club, Essence.com, and ventures in digital media (mobile, television and VOD). For 40 years, ESSENCE, which has a brand reach of over 8 million, has been the leading source of cutting-edge information relating to every area of African-American women's lives. Additional information about ECI and ESSENCE is available at essence.com.

SOURCE ESSENCE magazine