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2012 Preliminary Judging Panel

Announcing our Preliminary Judging Panel for the Sixth Annual Independent Handbag Designer Awards made up of the top industry influencers and bloggers.
Get live Tweets and updates on April 29th from the Hyatt 48 Lex New York where our judges will select the finalists that will be announced on May 16th.

Colin McDonald
Colin T. McDonald is a noted Fashion Stylist and Commentator in New York City. He's quickly emerging as one of the future faces of fashion. Along with being a stylist, he commentates daily for many highly noted critics both on and off the red carpet. Still finding time, he's also a fashion consultant for top and emerging brands lending them his eye and expertise. Lastly, he's recently launched a personal style blog Stylesource, and will soon be launching an online TV network styleTV. For more information, please visit his website at www.colintmcdonald.com.
Kathryn Finney
Kathryn Finney is the founder of TheBudgetFashionista.com and CEO of TBF Group, LLC, parent company of Simply Good Media, an information network with the sole mission to teach you how to live your best on less. Founded in 2003, the network’s flagship property is The Budget Fashionista, one of the most popular and influential fashion blogs, reaching a global audience of more than five million+ unique visitors a year. An honors graduate of Yale and Rutgers Universities, Kathryn has been featured in more than 600 media outlets, including TODAY show, Good Morning America, CNN, E!/Style, Fox News and has been profiled numerous times leading publications including the New York Times, USA TODAY, the Wall Street Journal, and InStyle. Kathryn is considered an expert in building branded, women-centered online properties and is a frequent keynote speaker at conferences such as Blogher Business, South by Southwest (SXSW), New York Women in Communications, Women’s Funding Network, and numerous colleges and universities. She is a founder and trustee of The Robert Finney Foundation and serves on the board of the Hudson Guild. A Minneapolis native, Kathryn lives in New York City with her husband and 35 shoes.
Lois Sakany & Samia Grand Pierre
Highsnobette.com , was developed from a column on global men’s streetwear fashion news site Highsnobiety.com since 2006. Through the founding editors Lois sakany and Samia Grand-Pierre Highsnobette.com’s mission is to present a view of fashion that has no limits in country, origin and influence. The DNA of Highsnobette :
“A women's lifestyle magazine devoted to outside-the-box fashion, art and lifestyle trends. We're known for bridging the gap between streetwear and couture and believe that a woman's greatest asset is the gift of duality and complexity and females who can work those angles are beloved and admired by us. In the HighSnobette universe, four-inch heels and sneakers are just as sexy as tight jeans, a Fleet Ilya harness or a Chanel suit. What we like is what we like and we aren't motivated by what's supposed to be hot or trendy. Yes, just like the name, we're snobs and unashamed of it.”

Lois Sakany is a professional journalist, trend forecaster and business analyst with a special focus on urban trends. Her work has been published in Sportswear International, Footwear News, WGSN and WWD. Samia Grand-Pierre has a background in retail, styling and social media management and has worked on various projects for Levi’s, Reebok and American Apparel. Combined expertise includes brand analysis, positioning, fit /styling, product seeding and collaboration, plus influencer outreach
Amy DuFault
Amy DuFault has been writing about fashion and lifestyle for 15 years at such publications as EcoSalon, Boston Magazine, Huffington Post and Coastal Living, as well as appearing on ABC’s Emmy award-winning Boston news magazine Chronicle and NBC’s “Style File” as a fashion expert. Amy is the current Managing Editor and Fashion Editor of EcoSalon, and on the side, works with sustainable designers consulting, connecting and cheerleading them on to greater success.
Micah Jesse
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Micah Jesse's early fascination with the fabulous lives of the rich and famous led him to New York City, where he attended Hofstra University. While in school, Micah began covering red carpet events for Us Weekly and OK! Magazine. Realizing the need to build his own platform, Micah created MicahJesse.com, which rapidly gained popularity for its refreshing take on celebrity and entertainment news.

In just a few short years, Micah Jesse has blossomed from “blogger” to bona fide Entertainment Personality and is celebrated throughout the industry for his positive perspective on celebrity and entertainment news. Today, he is revered as a “man about town” and can be seen on the red carpet mingling with celebs at star studded events from “The Hamptons to Hollywood”.
Dawn Del Russo
Dawn Del Russo is a on-air fashion & lifestyle expert featured on Fox 5, CBS, NBC, E News!, My 9, and Better TV, Martha Stewart Radio as well as host for a local TV program. Dawn's fashion tips have been seen in national print InStyle, Cosmo, Real Simple, Life & Style and US Weekly magazine. Dawn is the author of "101 Glam Girl Ways to an Ultra Chic Lifestyle." Her tips cover, beauty, fashion, healthy body and mind, stylish living, and finding inner confidence. She has worked with top runway models, celebrities, and socialites, she loves to add a little bit of glamour to every client on and off the red carpet. Dawn's work can be viewed at www.dawndelrusso.com or visit her trendy boutique www.belladawn.com for stylish finds. Dawn is a social media sweetheart and can be found chatting about fashion on twitter @DawnDelRusso, posting finds on Pinterest, giving daily celebrity style tips on her YouTube channel, virtual style advice, "Posing" for her 24,000 followers on Pose app, and writing about her favorite beauty and fashion finds on her site My Intimate Affair with Fashion.
Emma Grady
Emma Grady is a stylist and award-winning fashion writer based in New York City. She is the founder and editor of Past Fashion Future, an internationally-acclaimed style site with a classic and timeless aesthetic, and the resident fashion expert at Discovery's TreeHugger.com. Grady is regularly featured across web and print publications, from WWD to Marie Claire, while her highly-syndicated multimedia content has appeared everywhere from AOL to Current TV. And you can link to www.pastfashionfuture.com
Sara Zucker
Sara is currently a Digital Media Analyst at Nars Cosmetics and freelance fashion/marketing/branding writer. A former Community Manager at Glamour, her blog sarazucker.com has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Lucky Magazine, on Racked, Mashable, Fashionista and Refinery29, among others, and she has collaborated with such brands as ALDO, The Outnet, Zappos, Warby Parker, and Betsey Johnson. She loves chicken fingers, the History Channel, listening to herself talk, cashmere scarves and color-coding her closet. To fully grasp the awesomeness that is Sara, follow her on Twitter at @sbz.
Ysolt Usigan
Ysolt Usigan, digital diva, beauty maven and style guru: As a seasoned writer and web editor, Ysolt has successfully created lifestyle content and provided readers with engaging information for 10 years. Prior to her role as site director at XO Group, Ysolt directed the tech and lifestyle vertical at CBSNews.com/CBS Interactive where she quadrupled traffic to the section within weeks of her arrival after executing her SEO, editorial and social media strategy. Before her stint at CBSNews.com/CBS Interactive, Ysolt was the senior editor of Beauty and Style at iVillage, where she leveraged the site’s content, community and tools to create successful marketing campaigns and sales packages, and was instrumental in millions of dollars in revenue annually. But beyond her web and editorial prowess, Ysolt is extremely passionate about her readers, studying users’ activities and comments, and using her findings to program content to serve their needs. Check out her new blog at www.theblush.com
Amina Akhtar
Amina Akhtar is a veteran of the online fashion editorial realm. She's currently the Fashion Director of FashionEtc.com, which she helped launch. Prior to this, she launched NYMag.com's The Cut blog and online fashion section (winning the publication two ASME awards). She also worked with NYTimes.com's online Style Section, conceiving videos, audio slide shows, and other various multi-media. Amina also worked at Style.com, covering fashion news, products, fashion shows and more. She started in fashion as an assistant at Vogue, and helped conceive and launch the first issue of Teen Vogue magazine. Amina has also worked with brands like Calvin Klein on their social media platforms.
Sarah Reynolds
Sarah Reynolds is the Senior Social Media Manager at ICED Media, a New York University alumni, and local fine artist. Currently, she works on social media strategy and community management for fashion and beauty brands such as Maybelline, Swatch US, Calypso St. Barth, Kmart Fashion and Stylesip. Most recently she's been deemed one of Salvatore Ferragamo's "Girls About Town" and has shown her artwork at Adrian Grenier's Teenage Paparazzo Experience in New York City. If you want to chat affordable fashion, tweet her @KmartFashion, for all thing art or strategy related follow @SarahReynoldsNY.
Pamela Pekerman
Pamela Pekerman is a premier lifestyle correspondent, host, accessory expert, and spokesperson reaching millions of women via her TV appearances, events, website, and social media platforms. She has devoted her professional life to accessorizing your body, bedroom & beyond – from the ring on your finger to the rug on your floor! Pamela has appeared on VH1’s The Fabulous Life and morning/daytime shows on all the major networks from NBC in Miami to FOX in New York to ABC in Houston. For PIX11 Morning News NY and BETTER TV, she regularly shares style tips for every budget and scoop on the latest trends. Currently, you can also hear her on AfterBuzzTV.com covering fashion (Golden Globes Style Recap, Oscars LIVE Style Recap, New York Fashion Week).

With her trademark whit, smile and relatable personality, Pamela appeared as a style expert for HSN, where her trusted opinions sold millions of dollars worth of merchandise. In 2012, she’ll debut on QVC as spokesperson and Creative Director for Dan Azan handbags. Through her company, Psquared Productions, Pamela has worked on projects ranging from styling, event hosting and editorial. Pamela is a national spokesperson for off-priced retailers T.J. Maxx and Marshalls and a brand ambassador/spokesperson for such elite and diverse clients as HomeGoods, Blue Nile, Ulta Beauty, Crest, and Genesis Today. Her insight on fashion lifestyle and entrepreneurship are often quoted in Life & Style, SUCCESS for Women and The New York Times, to name a few.

As an event MC, Pamela has worked with a vast array of clientele including Simon Property Malls, MCM, AMEX, The Plaza Hotel, Dasha Wellness Spa, and INK 48 Kimpton Hotel. Four times per year, she hosts her signature Accessorize parties for an elite group of 35 media darlings and TV personalities. Past guests include BRAVO’s Real Housewives Caroline Manzo, Alex McCord and Ramona Singer, producers from Good Morning America and Rachael Ray Show, and key editors. Past participating brands include Ford, Michael C. Fina, Franco Sarto, Intel, Stuart Weitzman, Joy Mangano for HSN and Disney Couture Jewelry.

A regular on the Red Carpet, Pamela is as comfortable interviewing fashion personalities like Marc Jacobs, Zac Posen, and Kimora Lee, as she is in sharing her down-to-earth fashion advice with women across the country. She holds a magna cum laude journalism degree from New York University and is devoted to her charity, the Ilya Peckerman Fund which benefits the Vasculitis Foundation. Pamela lives in New York with my husband, a man who actually encourages her to indulge in famous red soles and things that sparkle!
Georgia Bobley
Georgia Bobley is currently a writer at guestofaguest.com, where she writes posts on various lifestyle topics. She is also a co-founder of the blog SkinnyOffice (www.theskinnyoffice.com), which offers daily snack suggestions to people who work in offices and are looking for low-calorie snacking options that are easy to eat at their desks. Recently, SkinnyOffice was chosen to sample Luna Bar's newest flavor bar, and a post about it will be on the blog in a few weeks. Previously, Georgia worked at Girls Learn International; a non-profit organization that pairs US middle and high schools with schools in developing countries in order to promote cross cultural exchange and understanding, and she remains involved with the organization today. Georgia spends all of her free time traveling, most recently to Hong Kong and Vietnam, and will be headed to Dubai and London this summer.

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