New York, 15th April 2010. New York welcomes the twenty winners of the first Benetton global casting with a cocktail party, attended by Alessandro Benetton, at “The Top of  The Standard”.

The winners, who hail from around the globe, will feature in the Benetton autumn-winter 2010 campaign, shot by world-famous photographer Josh Olins at the Industria Superstudio in theMeatpacking District and appearing in the press, on the internet and on billboards around the world.

The names and nationalities of the winners themselves illustrate the global, multiethnic, democratic nature of It’s My Time, exemplifying the identity and international vocation of the Benetton brand.

The casting attracted entries from all corners of the globe, drawing interest from 217 different countries: from Ethiopia to Zimbabwe, from Nepal to Uzbekistan, from Guatemala to Cambodia to Iceland. Countries with the strongest participation included Turkey, India, Mexico and Russia amongst others. Over 40,000 women took part, almost twice as many as the men. There were more than 17,000 teenagers, over 35,000 participants in the 20 to 30 age range, and almost 8,000 over-thirties.

Over and above the casting contest, It’s My Time was also a means of sharing opinions and making friends, a place where participants were completely free to get themselves and their creations seen. Using the hi-tech channels preferred by young people, Benetton hosted participants' profiles (photos, videos, words, visual creations, messages from visitors) and their opinions on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/benettoncasting) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/benettoncasting), and their videos on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/benetton). It collected, explored and presented their variegated styles of self-expression, and offered a space where they could be imaginative, sharing their tastes, ideas, criticism and enthusiasm.

Through this vast virtual plaza, Benetton took a fresh and exclusive social sampling of the inspirations and aspirations of the young, and of their outlook on the future. A collective blog (http://casting.benetton.com/blog) served to breath life into ideas that arose and built on each other day by day from countries including Japan, the Philippines, China, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Mexico, the United States and Colombia, with 180 posts and 5 million comments.

People wrote, explored, discussed, commented and debated on just about everything. From the column on New York to a discussion about democracy online, from posts by Glenn O’Brien to those from international bloggers, from analyses of the worst styles to fashion icons, from private confessions to public accusations, from opinions about censure and freedom of expression online to future trends, from the difference between reality and imagination to the definition of beauty. Plus art, music, food and leisure, as well as lists of the craziest things people have done in their lives, reasons for leaving your home country, favourite sensory experiences, what it takes to have style, and the best kiss of your life.