Two of the eight winners of Levi’s Style Search, a modeling contest that more than 2,000 students entered nationwide, are GW students.
Graduate student Kyle Renner and sophomore Sarah Piscitelli will receive a trip to New York City for the day-long photo shoot and a $250 Levi’s shopping spree. Both were entered by having their picture taken at the Levi Pop-up Shop in Kogan Plaza last semester.
“I think what’s great about the competition – first of all – if you’re a fan of Levi, then it’s kind of cool to be in an advertisement for Levi,” said Levi spokesperson Fiona McRobert. She said the other prizes were also great for the stylish winners of the competition.
Winners were selected from photographs taken at Levi Pop-Up Shops at four college campuses and photographs submitted online. All but one winner was from an entry at one of the college tours.
Aside from GW, winners hailed from Brown, Rhode Island College, University of Tennessee and University of California-Santa Barbara.
Both students said they were asked if they’d like to enter.
“I went to check it out to buy a pair of Levi’s at the beginning of the (academic) year,” Renner said. “They asked me if they could take my picture … and I didn’t really care either way.”
Renner, who is working on a master’s at the Elliott School of International Affairs, completely forgot he had entered the contest until he got the phone call from Levi’s. He said he, along with family and friends, are still laughing about his win.
“Basically – for them – it’s just another reason to make fun of me,” Renner said. “If you can’t laugh about yourself, why live?”
Renner’s two co-workers at the Economics Department, where he works as a secretary, said they were surprised when they heard of his win.
“I thought that apparently 90210 was coming back,” joked Economics Department clerk Randall Allen Williams. “He’s got the sideburns that look like Dillon from the show.”
Department executive assistant Marta Kazimierczak said Renner is similar to Joey on the NBC television show Friends because of his success with “the girls.” She said, “He has to beat them away.”
Piscitelli, who is taking her boyfriend to New York with her, said although she lives close to New York City, she’s very excited for the trip.
“I’m bringing my boyfriend, Lewis Sturdy, who is also a student at … GWU … Even though I live close – about a half-hour train ride – there are always so many things going on in the city that it’s always a good time to go in,” Piscitelli wrote in an e-mail.
Although she is not interested in modeling, Piscitelli said winning has brought back her secret desire to be a rock star.
“In the past, people have suggested that I model, because of my height and my lean body type; however, I also have a lazy eye,” she said. “Maybe I’ll be discovered and fulfill my dream of being a rock star.”
