LIM College Student Announced as Winner of Solstice Sunglass Boutique's "Summer Solstice Visual Merchandising Design Competition"

Kristina Visceglia's design concept now appearing in seasonal promotional campaign in 160 Solstice Stores nationwide

SOLSTICE Sunglass Boutique and LIM College are proud to announce the winner and runners-up of the first Summer Solstice Visual Merchandising Competition, a design competition to create a seasonal promotional concept for the retail chain’s annual “Summer Solstice” sales promotion. The winning design will appear in a total of 160 SOLSTICE Sunglass Boutique and SOLSTICE Sunglass Outlet store windows as well as be used for other marketing initiatives.

The winner of the competition was Kristina Visceglia of Brielle, NJ, a recent graduate of LIM College’s Visual Merchandising Certificate Program. Her concept was entitled “Discovering Summer Solstice” and included a visual of a pair of Carrera sunglasses encapsulated in a clear bottle nestled in the sand before the waves of a sunlit beach. This visual will appear in all SOLSTICE store windows from June 20 through July 14. The three LIM College students who were the runners-up in the competition were Connor de Guehery, Tara Mangiero and Jordan McGovern.

The objective of the competition was for the students to create a compelling retail window design concept that would support SOLSTICE’s positioning, be consistent in look and feel with the retailer’s current visual point of view and utilize Carrera sunglasses within the creative concept. Fifteen students in LIM College’s Visual Presentation class, taught by Marjorie Lee Woo, Associate Chair of the Visual Merchandising Department, participated.

Visceglia’s winning retail window concept was chosen by Rick Talmage, COO of Solstice; Robin Scheer Ettinger, VP of Marketing for Safilo – Americas; and Michael Yount, Manager of Visual Merchandising/Store Planning of Solstice in concert with Professor Woo and Visual Merchandising Department Chair Eric Feigenbaum.

When asked what inspired her winning design, Visceglia replied, "Since I grew up at the Jersey Shore, my mind instinctively connected summer to the beach life. One of my favorite things to do is to collect sea glass, which led to the idea of a message in a bottle, which ultimately led to the idea of a campaign featuring sunglasses in bottles.”

The “Discover Summer Solstice” concept will not only appear in 160 of the retailers’ storefront windows but throughout the store as well and will be utilized in email blasts, mailers, mall kiosks and wild postings and phone kiosks in select cities as well as on the new SOLSTICE Facebook page.

Visceglia and the three runner-ups were recognized during a Summer Solstice event held on June 21 at the Solstice Sunglass Boutique in New York City’s Flatiron District. 

“SOLSTICE has never held a student design competition like this before but we thought that this would be a win-win for all involved by providing classroom experience for the students while offering real world exposure for the winning concept along with great visuals for our stores,” says Robin Scheer Ettinger, VP of Marketing – Safilo Americas, who initiated the competition with the class. “We are very pleased with Kristina Visceglia’s winning concept and this will be a great feather in her cap for her portfolio and her resume.”

“LIM College is thrilled to have partnered with SOLSTICE on this exciting competition,” said Elizabeth S. Marcuse, President of LIM College. “It provided a wonderful opportunity for our Visual Merchandising students to get a hands-on, creative, and practical learning experience, which is the cornerstone of an LIM College education.”

About SOLSTICE Sunglass Boutique
SOLSTICE is an upscale sunglass specialty chain owned and operated by Solstice Marketing Concepts (SMC), LLC, the New York City based subsidiary of the renowned Italian designer eyewear manufacturer Safilo Group. There are over 160 SOLSTICE Sunglass Boutiques and SOLSTICE Sunglass Outlet stores nationwide along with a new on-line store www.SOLSTICEsunglasses.com. SOLSTICE offers one of the largest selections of designer sunglasses of any department store or sunglass specialty retailer with over 1,000 pairs from which to choose in a variety of price points. Highly coveted brands available at SOLSTICE locations include: Armani Exchange, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Carrera, Dior, Dior Homme, Emporio Armani, Giorgio Armani, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Jimmy Choo, Juicy Couture, Kate Spade, Marc Jacobs, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Tommy Hilfiger, Valentino and Yves Saint Laurent, to name a few.