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New York Gown Designer Competes for Oscars Fame

By DNAinfo Staff on February 25, 2011 6:42am  | Updated on February 25, 2011 10:28am

Elizabeth Ladzinski
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer


MANHATTAN — It's a fashion designer's dream to create a dress for the Oscars, and one local designer could be about to have her dream come true.

Katelyn Bischof, 23, a New York native who graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology last year, will be waiting with baited breath as officials announce live on the red carpet Sunday whether her dress will be the winner of the "Oscars Designer Challenge 2011."

"It's been so exciting, the whole competition," said Bischof, one of nine up-and-coming designers who are featured in a web video on the Academy Awards website, the "Oscars Designer Challenge: Behind the Dress."

The winning gown was chosen via public vote on the academy's website, and although voting finished on February 21st, Bischof has been kept in the dark about the outcome.

Bischof's dress being modeled at a filming for the Oscars web series.
Bischof's dress being modeled at a filming for the Oscars web series.
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Courtesy 4 Seasons Photography

"Just to have your dress on the stage, to have so many people see it would just be a huge honor," Bischof said.

Bischof designed her dress out of silver satin, flared at the hem, with a sweetheart neckline. The neckline is covered in gold embroidered flower leaves, Swarovski crystal beading, and finished with tulle draped at one shoulder. It glows under the spotlight almost as brightly as the gilded awards statuette that winners will be taking home Sunday night.

"I looked at old 50's Hollywood glamour," Bischof said. "I wanted something that would look good on stage."

If her dress is chosen, it will appear on one of the models who carries the Oscar statuettes onto the stage during the 83rd annual Academy Awards. The winning gown designer will also get two tickets to the Oscars.

Bishof was given about a month to come up with three possible sketches. After she was chosen out of 30 designers to be a finalist, she had three weeks to produce the dress. She admitted to feeling a little rushed after having trouble tracking down the fabric she wanted to use initailly, and eventually changed her design slightly.

"It's funny because I think it turned out better than it would have with the original [fabric]," she said.

Bischof isn't a stranger to awards. During her graduation fashion show last year, she took home FIT's critics award for Special Occasion with her cranberry-colored gown. She was asked to enter the Oscars competition after an organizer remembered her winning design from that show.

Bischof eventually hopes to start her own design company in Manhattan, depending on how the Oscars competition pans out.

"I think this opens a lot of doors and really gets my name out there," Bishof said.