A Day in the Life: Ford Fiesta "Inspired by Color" Competition with Constance White and Letoya Luckett

As a Jersey girl (who escapes to Miami often for vacation), I know the importance of a fabulous car! When I'm away from New York, my car becomes my accessory.

And never have I been so obsessed with a car until the Ford Fiesta. It's so cute---it feels tailor-made for me and my funky fashion sense. It comes in fab colors like yellow blaze to red candy metallic, which are super fun and stylish.

It's definitely the car I could see my friends and I hopping out of to head to the mall, the club, a restaurant, etc. And it's chic inside and out with cross-stitched interior to complement the bold exterior color.

But that's only the beginning. First, the Ford Fiesta is fuel-efficient, featuring a projected best-in-class highway fuel economy of 40 mpg.

Secondly, it has a feature that automatically syncs your IPOD to the radio, a class-exclusive push button start and a voice-activated, hands-free communications and entertainment system. Yes, the twenty-first century! You can control all of the following features in the car with your voice alone:

- Hands-free Calling

- Turn-by-Turn Directions

- 911 Assist™

- Music Search

- Vehicle Health Report

- Personalized Daily Info

- Business Search

- Real-time Traffic

- Audible Text Messages

Pretty cool, right?

To mark the launch of the first fashion-forward ride, Ford Fiesta invited yours truly to D.C. for "Inspired by Color," a competition to find a young, eclectic, cool college student to be one of five spokespeople for the car.

And boy, was it an adventure! Besides chopping it up with the amazing contestants (one of whom is charismatic, gorgeous and shops vintage, totally my favorite!), I was able to meet and interview three of my heroes, designer Mychael Knight and judges, style expert, Constance White and R&B sensation, Letoya Luckett! It was like the car version of American Idol!

Here's what Shawn Lollie, Ford Multicultural Marketing Manager, had to say about the competition, which challenged people to use their own personal style to connect with the colors and distinct features of the new Fiesta. 

"Our goal was to create a unique program that truly embodied the spirit of the Fiesta. The Fiesta has an expressive, vibrant design and we wanted to tap into those style attributes in a way that was relevant to our target audience while engaging them using platforms that are very much a part of their everyday lives."

Out of the 150 people that turned out for the casting call at Howard University in Washington, D.C, dressed in a Fiesta-inspired way, only five were chosen (three of which were my personal favorites!). Those five fashion-forward winners (below) now appear in the new television ad for Ford's all-new small car. Sounds like a dream, right? It was for them. 

The five fabulous winners!

One of the winners, Echoe with my favorite car

The Grand Prize Winner, Esosa

I was so happy to be a part of the process (which was like watching a reality competition before your eyes) from meeting the judges to chatting with my fave contestants. 

For the first part of the competition, hopefuls consulted Memsor Kamarake, an amazing stylist who was formerly Fashion Director of Vibe, for style advice. Memsor would add final touches to make their outfit look as polished and fashion-forward as possible in front of the judges.

Then, contestants would take part in a photo shoot and interview to showcase how they were inspired by the fashion-forward, fuel-efficient Ford Fiesta.

Then it was time to meet the judges. Check out my video interviews with two of the judges, eBay Style Director, Constance White, and R&B sensation, Letoya Luckett, below: 

Letoya Luckett

Constance White

How cool is "Inspired by Color" and the Ford Fiesta? For more, check out Vibe Magazine for a tie-in associated with the car that will run in print. Also, the car will be featured on BET's new fab show, The Travelista's! The lifestyle traveling duo will drive a 2011 Ford Fiesta as part of a custom webisode airing on www.bet.com. For additional info, visit www.fordurban.com.

Kisses,

Coutura

Photos Courtesy of Ford and The Urban Gentleman