Fila announced today that two finalists have been selected for the tennis dress design contest which was held via the brand’s Facebook page. 

The final round of competition will be held in Fila’s New York office where they will present their ideas and inspiration for the submitted design to the panel of judges (Fila’s apparel team). One finalist, Annabelle McDonald, is a film and television producer from Ohio living in Brooklyn, New York. The other finalist, Samantha Swank is a recent Fashion Design graduate from Art Institute of Philadelphia.

The winning designer will remain in New York to begin the product development process for their design and oversee production along-side Fila’s Vice President of Apparel, Danny Lieberman. They will return to New York the first week of September for a fitting of the dress on a professional tennis player. In March 2013, the winner and a guest will watch courtside as their dress debuts in a tournament match by a Fila-sponsored WTA Tour tennis player at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

"Fila has a rich history of design innovation and a reputation for pushing the boundaries between art, design and fashion,” said Danny Lieberman, Vice President Apparel for Fila USA. "Nearly four decades of tennis design experience has taught us that inspiration can be found in the most unexpected places, so it was almost expected that Fila develop the first citizen-designed tennis dress to be worn in tournament competition by a top ranked WTA Tour player."

The winner will be announced on Fila’s Facebook page on July 20, 2012.