German Car Zone

Mercedes has announced today a new scholarship program for all you would-be fashion designers. Titled the Drive Your Future Design Awards LA scholarship, Mercedes will present one lucky individual with a $20,000 one-year scholarship to attend The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising this fall, as well as mentoring opportunity with award-winning designer Kevan Hall.

To help fund the scholarship, Mercedes will be auctioning off a number Fender guitars, personally decorated by a series of Hollywood celebrities including rocker Slash, supermodel Carolyn Murphy, and skater Tony Hawk. The guitars, which are currently on display at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios, will be placed up for auction this spring.

According to Pat Bolter, President of the Southern California Mercedes-Benz Dealer Association, “To become a successful designer, you need passion, commitment, vision – and a little bit of luck and support along the way. That’s why Mercedes-Benz is proud to support the next generation of design students in their quest to realize their dreams. When personal vision is matched with opportunity, extraordinary things can happen. It is our hope to see the Design Awards LA scholarship recipient recognized with the same acclaim as Kevan Hall some day.”

Sound intriguing? Registration for the Drive Your Future Design Awards LA Scholarship starts March 27. On that date, interested parties can learn more about the program as well as apply online by visiting www.fidm.edu/designawardsla.

For more info on the program as well as this year's Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, keep reading for MBUSA's full press release.


OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE


Working The Runway To Success:
Drive Your Future Design Awards LA Scholarship Announced At Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week At Smashbox Studios Fall 2006 Collections

Gwen Stefani, Supermodel Carolyn Murphy, Rocker Slash and Pop Star Mya Design One-Of-A-Kind Guitars To Further Scholarship Support For FIDM/The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising

LOS ANGELES, CA – The next great American fashion designer may be one step further down the runway with today’s announcement of the Mercedes-Benz DRIVE YOUR FUTURE Design Awards LA scholarship, sponsored in part by the Southern California Mercedes-Benz dealers together with Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA). One lucky future fashion icon will be awarded a $20,000 one-year scholarship to attend FIDM/The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising this fall, as well as a mentoring opportunity with award-winning designer Kevan Hall who is the “Mercedes-Benz Presents” designer for the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios Fall 2006 Collections. Beginning March 27, 2006 interested students can log on to www.fidm.edu/designawardsla to learn more about the program and apply online.

The new scholarship will also be partially funded by the auction of one-of-a-kind Fender guitars personally decorated by Hollywood’s hottest stars including famed rocker Slash, supermodel Carolyn Murphy, pop star Mya and world champion skater Tony Hawk. The guitars, which will be on display during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios at the main tent entrance, will be auctioned this spring.

“To become a successful designer, you need passion, commitment, vision – and a little bit of luck and support along the way,” said Pat Bolter, President of the Southern California Mercedes-Benz Dealer Association. “That’s why Mercedes-Benz is proud to support the next generation of design students in their quest to realize their dreams. When personal vision is matched with opportunity, extraordinary things can happen. It is our hope to see the Design Awards LA scholarship recipient recognized with the same acclaim as Kevan Hall some day.”

The announcement coincides with the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios Fall 2006 Collections which will take place in Culver City, California, at Smashbox Studios, March 19-23, where Kevan Hall will present his elegant and sophisticated designs. A graduate of FIDM/The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising himself, Hall is known for the femininity, beauty and simplicity of his designs and counts Charlize Theron, Salma Hayek, Mariah Carey and the stars of “Desperate Housewives” amongst his clients.

Approximately 35 designers in total will present their fall 2006 collections at the show, including: Agent Provocateur, Antik Denim, Bradley Bayou, Buffalo Denim, Jennifer Nicholson, Kevan Hall, Louis Verdad and Ya-Ya. Mercedes-Benz has been the title sponsor of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios since its inception in Los Angeles seven seasons ago.

“For years, our graduates, like Kevan Hall, have made their mark on the fashion and entertainment worlds,” said Tonian Hohberg, President of FIDM/The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising. “We hope the winner of the DRIVE YOUR FUTURE Design Awards LA will make their own mark on the industry like so many of our alumni running multi-million dollar companies all over the world.”

DRIVE YOUR FUTURE Design Awards LA, a new extension of the national Mercedes-Benz DRIVE YOUR FUTURE Scholarship Program which supports students who are the first in their families to pursue a college education, will be available to students across the nation and will help cover their first year of college. Specific information about the scholarship will be available on FIDM’s website, www.fidm.edu/designawardsla, starting March 27, 2006. DRIVE YOUR FUTURE Design Awards LA is part of Mercedes-Benz’s ongoing effort to support education and create opportunities for young people by helping students clear some of the hurdles to higher education. Overall, the national DRIVE YOUR FUTURE program provides $1.5 million in scholarship funding to students in need.

FIDM/The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising

FIDM/The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising is a private college for specialized professional education accredited by WASC and NASAD granting Associate of Arts and Bachelor of Science Business degrees. Over the last 30 years, FIDM has graduated more than 30,000 students and prepared them for careers in Fashion, Graphics, Interior Design and Entertainment. The school is headquartered in its own 180,000 square foot state-of-the-art campus in downtown Los Angeles, and has other campus locations in Orange County, San Diego and San Francisco with a student body of 5,000 full-time students. Notable graduates include: Kevan Hall, Magda Berliner, Monique Lhuillier, Karen Kane, Pamela Skaist-Levy, Designer/Owner of Juicy Couture, Randolph Duke, Marina Spadafora, Daniel France, Tom Mark, David Cardona, Estevan Ramos, Ha Nguyen (Adventures of Pluto Nash, Swordfish, The Nutty Professor), Marlene Stewart (Ali, The X-Files), Jill Ohanneson (Six Feet Under, The Pledge, Mouse Hunt) and Mona May (Clueless, The new…Stuart Little, The Master of Disguise, The Haunted Mansion). FIDM also houses one of the nation’s finest costume collections dating from the 18th century, as well as ethnic costumes and special selections from international designers from the past and present.

Mercedes-Benz USA

Headquartered in Montvale, N.J., MBUSA is responsible for the sales, marketing and service of all Mercedes-Benz and Maybach products in the United States. Through its philanthropic program, MBUSA focuses on educating and empowering future generations, particularly those who are underserved. The company views education as an opportunity to ensure that as many of today’s youth as possible are given the tools, guidance and support they need to reach their full potential. More information on MBUSA and its products can be found on the Internet at www.mbusa.com and www.maybachusa.com.

Where's my man Hussein when we need him!!! Sounds ideal imo.

yeah he need to get in on this

It is his bench market.... Hope he catches this thread.