AOL Latino Names Winner of Fashionista’s Second Season

Actress Ana de la Reguera to Wear One of a Kind Creation from Winning Designer

NEW YORK .- AOL Latino, http://latino.aol.com, announced Horatio Nieto as the winner of the second season of Fashionista, the site’s popular online fashion designer contest. Three webisodes highlighting the final challenges for the finalists will be available to consumers starting today at http://aollatino.com/fashionista.

For Fashionista, AOL Latino also created the first AOL widget used for promotional programming. Contestants and consumers could download the Fashionista widget to their social networking sites in order to promote voting as well as receive contest updates.

“Fashionista has great appeal among the fashion conscious, and it’s a great way to recognize aspiring Latino designers,” said Miguel Ferrer, Director of Programming, AOL Latino. “We’re delighted at the success of our second season, and congratulate all the contestants who entered designs and the many AOL Latino users whose participation made the program a hit.”

For Fashionista’s second season, contestants submitted their designs directly on the AOL Latino site. AOL Latino fashion editors selected the top 20 contestants, and, from these, 10 were selected by online user votes to participate in a series of challenges. Three finalists came to New York City for the final challenge, hosted by Venezuelan-born actress and model Patricia Velásquez.

“Being recognized for your work is what every designer dreams of,” said Fashionista winner Nieto. “AOL Latino has provided an incredible platform for showcasing emerging designers who love what we do.”

Nieto will create a one-of-a-kind design for Mexican-born actress and model Ana de la Reguera, which she will wear to an upcoming red carpet event. Her most recent work includes the movie “Nacho Libre,” and she is currently one of the faces for CoverGirl.

Born and raised in Texas, Nieto moved to Chicago to pursue his passion for fashion design. He attended a private school where he majored in fashion design, and currently has his own line of menswear, Arlo. Nieto also had the opportunity to participate in this year’s Latino Fashion Week.

AOL Latino is the leading bilingual portal for U.S. Hispanics, and the sites’ page views have grown 165% year over year.*

*comScore Media Metrix, March 2008; comScore Latino category is custom built based on a self selected competitor list.