Seamless, a Film by Douglas Keeve, Captures the Excitement, Struggle and Often Heartbreaking Stories of Emerging Fashion Designers

Seamless, a Film by Douglas Keeve, Captures the Excitement, Struggle and Often Heartbreaking Stories of Emerging Fashion Designers

VOGUE and the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Are Backdrop for Behind-the-Scenes Film of a High-Stakes Industry Competition

NEW YORK, June 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Seamless, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City on April 26th, is the latest film by director Douglas Keeve. In Seamless, the critically acclaimed director goes again behind-the-scenes of the fashion industry to chronicle the lives of three emerging fashion designers and their struggle to build a business as they face the stark reality of what it takes to "make it" in this highly competitive arena.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050617/NYF006 )

Behind the glamour of fashion week parties and the over-the-top lifestyle of the few who have built fashion empires, there is a whole generation of young and talented designers hoping to find their break. Seamless captures the months leading up to the prestigious CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund award dinner where one designer and two runners-up will win money and mentoring for their fledgling business.

Born out of a desire to identify and help the next generation of young designers working in a tough business environment, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and Vogue formed the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, inaugurated in September 2003 by Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

According to Wintour, "I have always wished that something more could be done for young American designers at the early and extremely fragile time in their careers."

The CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund is an unprecedented multi-million dollar award program that combines a financial prize with business mentoring to promote the next wave of young American talent. The selection process involves narrowing down 150 initial applicants to 10 finalists. These ten finalists go on to present their work and their business to a panel of industry veterans including Anna Wintour (Vogue), Sally Singer (Vogue), Narciso Rodriguez, Robert Duffy (President, Marc Jacobs), Julie Gilhart (Barneys New York), Peter Arnold (CFDA), and Stephen Ruzow (Kellwood).

This team of industry heavyweights put the designers through rigorous questioning, studio visits and fashion presentations. It is this process that is recorded in Seamless -- in sometimes funny, touching moments that remove the glitz and glamour from the fashion world to reveal what it takes to become the star designer of tomorrow.

About Seamless:

Directed by Douglas Keeve and produced by Tom Florio with support from the Council of Fashion Designers of America, Hewlett-Packard, Movado, Redken and Shiseido. Running time is 1hr. 15 minutes. Recent screenings include the Tribeca Film Festival (April 2005), Cannes (May 2005) and the Newport Film Festival (June 2005).

About CFDA

The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) is a not-for-profit trade association of 273 of America's foremost fashion and accessory designers. Founded in 1962, the CFDA continues to advance the status of fashion design as a branch of American art and culture; to raise its artistic and professional standards; to define a code of ethical practices of mutual benefit in public and trade relations; and to promote appreciation of the fashion arts through leadership in quality and aesthetic discernment. For more information and to learn more about the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund visit http://www.cfda.com/.

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050617/NYF006
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN1
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: VOGUE Magazine

CONTACT: Elissa Lumley, +1-212-286-2225, Elissa_Lumley@vogue.com; or
Billy Daley, +1-212-590-5113, daley@kcdworldwide.com, both for VOGUE

Web site: http://www.vogue.com/
http://www.cfda.com/

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