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Rising Star

With a check for $25,000 in hand and looking forward to spending a day with Tabatha Coffey, the sky’s the limit for student Terrell Gardner, who recently won the Student award for the Matrix Mannequin Mania contest. Even more awesome, Gardner created his “Mother Nature” mannequin with only 450 hours of schooling to his credit. “It’s no secret that we’re trashing our planet,” says Gardner. “I wanted to represent Mother Nature as a phoenix rising from the ashes; I wanted to make her beautiful again.”

What is Gardner planning to do with his $25,000 prize? “Two weeks after I won the contest, my mother’s car was randomly torched in Miami, so I’m buying her a new one. The rest of the money will fund my move to New York where I hope to find work in a salon that has a strong apprenticeship program and the opportunity to do full-service work. In addition to working behind the chair and being incredibly busy, I dream of doing editorial shoots and even styling gigs for Broadway shows.”