The German fashion designer receives the “Mercedes” for his life’s work on the 19th July, 2008

Karl Lagerfeld received the ELLE Fashion Star Award, the „Mercedes“, in Berlin yesterday. The first ever presentation of the award went to the top German designer for his achievements in the industry. Chief editor of ELLE Sagine Nedelchev told us, “Karl Lagerfeld is receiving the “Platinum” ELLE Fashion Star Award because he is one of a kind and has shown his talent in lots of different collections as well special creations, photo shoots and much more. He surprises us every time and is always at the cutting edge of today’s fashion.” The laudatory speech was held by Dr. Maria Furtwängler and the award was presented to him by Claudia Schiffer.

The Belgian Raf Simons has been responsible for Jil Sander’s designs since 2005 “He’s receiving the “Mercedes” for “Best Collection” at ELLE Fashion Star because he has proved with his summer collection 2008 that he is a master of tailorship which he applies to unique materials, remaining loyal to the Jil Sander line at the same time”, explained Sabine Nedelchev, who also held the laudatory speech in honour of the designer. The ELLE Fashion Star was handed over by top model Inés Sastre.

Together, the designer duo Roberto Rimondi and Tommaso Aquilano make up 6267, and they received the newcomer award for their highly promising talent for fine cuts and style and their remarkably fine feeling for materials, prints and colours, explained the chief editor when justifying her choice. Actress Natalia Avelon held the laudatory speech and supermodel Astrid Munoz presented the prize to the two fashion designers.

International top models such as Eva Padberg, Toni Garn, Natasha Poly, Vlada Roslyakova and Valentina Zelyaeva, among others, presented creations that had been specially designed for the occasion of the German company ELLE’s 20th birthday by 20 of the world’s best designers in a fashion show together. As well as the prize winners, these included: Akris, Giorgio Armani, Boss Black, Burberry Prorsum, Roberto Cavalli, Chloé, Dior, Escada, Alberta Ferretti, Gucci, Calvin Klein Collection, Ralph Lauren Collection, Missoni, Strenesse Gabriele Strehle, Versace, Louis Vuitton, Wunderkind and Yves Saint Laurent. Each of the 20 individual pieces can be bid for from Monday July 21st at www.ebay/starsandcharity.de. The proceeds will go to Annie Lennox’s charity project SING, which supports the South African anti-aids organisation “TAC”.

Sharleen Spiteri, former lead singer of the band “Texas”, performed her solo debut. Annie Lennox sang songs from her extensive repertoire and introduced her charity campaign SING. Presenter Alexander Mazza hosted the evening. On Thursday July 24th 2008, ProSieben is broadcasting a special version of its show ‘taff’, called taff Spezial “ELLE Fashion Show”’, giving insights into the happenings on the red carpet and highlights of the fashion show and award ceremony, as well as exclusive back stage reports and scenes from the after-show party.

Press contact:

Regine Kolodziej
Hubert Burda Media
Press Communication
Phone: +49 89/9250 – 2782
Fax: +49 89/9250 - 1895
Regine.Kolodziej@burda.com

Tobias Müller
Daimler AG
Global Communications Mercedes-Benz Cars
Phone: +49 711 – 17 77368
Fax: +49 711 - 17 790 9537
Tobias.Mueller@daimler.com

background information:

20 years of ELLE: that means 20 years of fashion, beauty, lifestyle and culture, stars and stories. 600.000 readers every month search for inspiration among the fashion and beauty trends. With 42 offices and more then 5 million copies sold, ELLE is the leading fashion magazine on the international stage.
The Mercedes Fashion Week Berlin takes place from the 17th to the 20th of July 2008 on Bebel Square in the heart of Berlin. You can find further information about this online at www.mercedes-benzfashionweek.com