A free trip to an island in the middle of nowhere, with fashion on the agenda ... Uljana Vojchyshyn was sure it was spam but, according to the e-mail, she’d won the Coach Sweepstakes.

She and her husband Ihor Nemy flew to Bermuda last week courtesy of JetBlue, for a five-night stay at Elbow Beach Hotel. The package also included an all-access pass to the Bermuda Fashion Festival.

The Manhattan tax accountant still can’t believe her good luck.

“It was so unreal,” she said. “A co-worker said it was probably spam. We’ve heard lots of nice things about Bermuda, but never had a chance to visit.”

The couple love nice clothes but don’t normally have much time for fashion shows. If the festival had taken place on a week other than July 12 to 17, they probably would have turned the trip down.

“All three of our sons were away at summer camp at the time,” Ms Vojchyshyn said.

Added her husband: “In fact, it was our first trip overseas by ourselves since we had our three children.”

They were thrilled they were able to attend.

“A couple of months ago I bought a Coach item online and then they started sending me promotional offers,” Ms Vojchyshyn said.

“That’s how I heard about the sweepstakes. All you had to do to enter was give them your name, age and address.

“We met everyone, models, designers, people who worked behind the scenes. It was a very interesting and unique experience.”

They particularly enjoyed meeting model Win McMurry, who hosted the festival’s golf classic. “We were seated next to her at a fashion show,” Ms Vojchyshyn. “Also, we stayed in the same hotel, so we had a chance to spend some time with Win and her husband. They are very nice, interesting, funny and positive people.”

Overall, she said, they were impressed by the designs that were featured in the annual event.

“I think the local designers we saw have a great future,” Ms Vojchyshyn said. “The JRU Collection was every comfortable and they looked decent and interesting.”

They were looking forward to seeing designer Jakai Franks at New York Fashion Week.

“The Corporation of Hamilton has promised to keep us updated about that,” Ms Vojchyshyn said.

“We want to go and see his clothes when they are on the runway.”

The highlight of their trip was the black-tie gala Coach put on at the Fairmont Southampton.

“My husband looked on the counter of our room and there were two invitations to the gala,” she said.

“That was a nice surprise. We met the Coach team there. The organisers made very nice speeches and we got to dance a bit. I’ve already told almost everyone at work about it.

“When we got home from that there was a gift bag in our room containing a very nice Coach bag.”

They’re already planning their next visit.

“We want to bring our children and maybe some friends,” Mr Nemy said.

“We didn’t have a lot of time to explore, so we want to see more of the island. We may come back this year in late fall or next year in the spring.”

He added that they’d probably never have a similar experience again in their lives.

“The whole thing felt like a dream.”