In November 1926, Vogue magazine defined the Little Black Dress as a "uniform for all women of taste." From Coco Chanel's early jersey frocks to the Givenchy that Audrey Hepburn famously donned in Breakfast at Tiffany's, that statement was reinforced through the decades. It could indeed be argued that no single fashion item has proved to be so independently iconic.  

  This Wednesday night, May 21st, a fashionable crowd joined at the House of Blues to celebrate Little Black Dress reinventions by ten top Dallas fashion students. In this competition, aptly called Little Black Dress Designer, the young designers sent their creations down the runway in the hopes of earning a share of a $15,000 scholarship. Earlier this month, Little Black Dress Designer also held a Houston competition, with another $15,000 scholarship award. Last night’s ten student competitors were selected back in April by a panel of accomplished judges, including Khanh Nguyen of Nhã Khan and Neil Marek and Robbie Richard of Marek Richard.  

  After an exciting showing on the catwalk, the diverse group was whittled down to five winning designs. Andre Redar from Houston Community College (shown above) took top honors with his sleeveless dress (shown below), just besting Kim Pham, a crowd favorite from the University of North Texas and recent honoree at Fashion Group International of Dallas’ Career Day 2013. Redar’s winning frock showed unique peplum detailing and a hemline strongly reminiscent of a Hepburn classic.  

  All five top designers received part of the Little Black Dress Designer scholarship award. From them, we can surely hope to see many more history-making little black dresses to come.     All photos, credit Heather Lettieri for DFW Style Daily.