:: Miami Fashion Week :: The Fashion Event in Miami :: Latin American Designers in South Florida ::

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The 10^th Anniversary of Miami Fashion Week Ends on a High Note

Miami Fashion Week a Resounding Success in South Florida

(April 2008) Miami, FL - Miami Fashion Week®, the leading international fashion event in the , ended on a high note in Miami on April 13, 2008. International fashion designers converged in Miami ’s Wynwood Arts District to present an array of couture and luxury collections for the 10^th Anniversary of Miami Fashion Week®. Diverse collections were revealed in conjunction with a five-day series of educational seminars and live music performances alongside luxurious private cocktail parties and charity events.

Miami Fashion Week® fuses fashion, art and culture into a fun-filled and inspiring event that has developed into a significant world fashion event. From April 9-13, 2008, designers presented their Spring/Summer 2008 collections and featured some of the most finely tailored garments. The collections included lavish accessories, dramatic makeup and trend-setting hairstyles.

The international flavor of the event drew a large audience to Miami ’s Wynwood Arts District. Held at SOHO Studios for the second consecutive year, the latest fashion shows, receptions and parties were well-attended by diplomats, press, fashion buyers, socialites, VIPs and fashion-lovers from around the world. Guests included Emilio Estefan, Lili Estefan, Marlene Favela, Maria Elena Salinas, Julian Gil, Cynthia Olavarria, Jeremias, ’s Next Top Model participant Anchal, among others.

Concluding the five-day series celebration was the star-studded Miami Moda & Music Awards® hosted by celebrity emcees Ana Ramos and Frank Cairo from Mega TV. Throughout the week all of the designers flooded the stage with remarkable pieces and each brought a unique fashion perspective based on his or her experience, background and creative spirit.

2008 Miami Moda & Music Awards® Winners

Designers of the Year Award:

Rubén Campos, (MFW New Star in Fashion 2000)

Hernán Zajar, (MFW New Star in Fashion 2002)

Sitka Semsch, (MFW New Star in Fashion 2003)

Cadillac Luxury Lifestyle Award:

Julian Chang, Peru/Miami

Diamond Accessories Award:

Ana Maria Gutierrez Wearable Art,

Excellence in Eveningwear:

Zahra Mohammed, Dubai , UAE

Prêt-A-Porter Style:

Mocali,

Men's Style Designer:

Robert Flores,

Vanidades Designer Choice:

Veronica de la Canal,

Celebrity Style in Music:

Raul del Sol

Miami Fashion Week Top Model:

Joanne

Room Service Creative Design:

Rodrigo Londono

Orangia Collection

MFW Emerging Designer:

Eduardo de las Casas

South Florida ’s Top Student Designer:

Loreal Banks, AIU

The official automotive sponsor of Miami Fashion Week® was Cadillac, a leading luxury automotive brand since 1902. Cadillac's heritage of dramatic design and technical innovation has undergone a recent renaissance, returning it to the top-tier of luxury brands. Cadillac is a division of General Motors. Founded in 1908, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 33 countries. In 2007, nearly 9.37 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally.

Farouk Systems, the exclusive hair care sponsor for Miami Fashion Week®, is a powerhouse company, leading the hair care industry with its Advanced American Technology. As an industrial leader in innovations, Farouk Shami has devoted most of his career to securing the health and safety of his fellow hairdressers. In 1986, there was major breakthrough in the beauty industry when Farouk Shami invented the first Ammonia-Free hair lightener and color system called SunGlitz®, which started a revolution in hair coloring technology and artistic creations. Since then, Farouk Systems has become unstoppable.

Other sponsors included Citibank, Tiffany and Co., COPA Airlines, Terra Networks, Vanidades, Harper’s Bazaar en Español, MEGA TV, Romance 106.7 FM, Sea-Latino Newspaper, Two Mundos Magazine, Track Entertainment, Michele Pommier Models, Room Service Rentals, All Plants International, The Wordsmith-Dubai, Rain Vodka, Cuca Fresca Rum, AMC Liaisons, MOCA Museum of Contemporary Art, SOHO Studios, The City of Miami and Miami-Dade County Tourist Development Council.

Miami Fashion Week® is open to the public. For more information and 2009 dates, please visit www.miamifashionweek.com.

Beth Sobol of Sobol Fashion Productions, Inc., founded Miami Fashion Week® in 1999 to provide a forum offering international exposure for designers from Latin America . During the past ten years, it has developed into one of the world’s premier fashion events spotlighting designers from Europe, USA and Canada, the Caribbean, Middle East and Asia as well as the largest showcase of Latin American design talent in the United States.

The Miami Fashion Week Foundation, Inc. is an independent, not-profit organization that has been formed as the entity to accept corporate and private contributions for charitable and philanthropic initiatives. While operating year-round, its primary fund raising activities will be connected to Miami Fashion Week. The Organization will make distributions of the money raised to other organizations, with the intention to focus on charitable and educational organizations that are of concern to the international fashion and design community.

The Council of International Fashion Designers, Inc. is a not-profit trade association whose membership consists of emerging and established international fashion, jewelry and accessories designers, fashion and merchandising students, fashion press, stylists, make-up artists, fashion retailers and related industry professionals who have been working/studying in their fields for a minimum of two years. Founded in 1999, the CIFD was created to promote the Latin American designers as international rather than folkloric and continues to advance the status of all international designers entering in the through cultural exchange, raising artistic and professional standards, promoting ethical practices within the industry and promoting fashion design as an international and creative form of art.