July 10, 2006 (New York, NY) -- Atoosa Rubenstein, the editor-in-chief of Seventeen magazine, helped kick off the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising's (LIM), The College for the Business of Fashion, summer program for high school students by sharing her experiences and offering advice on starting a fashion industry career.

LIM's Summer of Fashion program gives high school students the opportunity to begin to acquire the knowledge and skills they need to enter the fashion industry and explore career options as they study the business of fashion with talented professionals.

Rubenstein spoke as part of the program's introductory course, "Is a Fashion Career for You?" which is a week-long exploration of the exciting career opportunities the fashion industry offers. The course includes field trips to leading companies and introduces students to the worlds of Buying, Cosmetics, Fashion Styling, Fashion Photography, Display Graphics and Visual Merchandising. Students can then continue with courses that provide in-depth knowledge in the areas of their choice.

Rubenstein began her career by working as an intern at Sassy magazine. After graduation, she took a job as a fashion assistant at Cosmopolitan magazine. Her talent and enthusiasm propelled her quickly through the ranks, and she became a senior fashion editor at Cosmopolitan in five short years. Rubenstein went on to found and serve as editor-in-chief of CosmoGIRL! magazine. When she founded CosmoGIRL! Rubenstein was only 26 years old, making her the youngest editor-in-chief in the history of Hearst Magazines. Last year a television series that Rubenstein was the creator and executive producer for, titled "Miss Seventeen," debuted on MTV.