"It's Not a Contest" Doesn't Apply to Fashion

Fashion contests have a long history of encouraging young fashion designers and students to test their skills. While money, travel, and clothing are great prizes, the stakes have been raised even higher in recent years, and awards now include scholarships and jobs--prizes really worth competing for.

Financial Aid

One of the top fashion schools in the country recently held a design competition for high school seniors. Contestants created a piece of evening formalwear and wrote an essay on why they would like to attend fashion school and work in fashion design. Each grand prize winner received a full scholarship to fashion school, a trip to New York for Fashion Week in the spring, and a mention in Seventeen magazine.

Keep Out the Fur and We'll Give You a Job

At another fashion school, this one on the West Coast, contestants were tasked with designing a faux-fur coat. The winner traveled to New York for the award, which was an internship with a fashion designer. Oh, and a job in a traveling show promoting "fur-free fashion."
There are few things on par with a scholarship to fashion school, but an internship and a job in the fashion industry are right up there. Earning a degree is still the best way to start a career in fashion, because of the portfolio students build, the fashion show experience they gain, and the connections they make with the industry.
But entering a few contests here and there never hurt anyone.
Sources
Yahoo! Finance
Salem Statesman-Journal, "Student picked in fur-free contest"

Joe Cooper is a freelance education and technology writer and edits medical literature. He holds a bachelor's in American Literature from UCLA.