Baroque Japan Limited on February 26 named the winner of the grand prize in an in-house audition to cultivate the next new star. The event designed to uncover and nurture talented human resources featured 20 groups of contestants selected from Baroque Japan staff members across Japan.

The audition took place between August and December 2014. Once a week, contestants selected through an in-house call targeting store staff members created a video themed around fashion, hair, and makeup, and uploaded it on the BAROQUE CHANNEL operated by Baroque Japan on YouTube.

The first grand prize went to Mari Nakamura, who left her home city in the southern island of Kyushu for Tokyo only a year ago and currently works at The SHEL’TTER TOKYO.

Her videos won a following on YouTube for offering fashion and makeup tips from the viewer’s perspective.

Nakamura’s dream is to launch her own brand and make her debut next spring. Baroque Japan plans to create an environment for granting this dream, and cultivate Nakamura into a potential star in the fashion industry of the future.