Cynthia Rowley to-be Honored in Arlington

Fashion designer Cynthia Rowley has been selected to receive the Marymount University Designer of the Year award at Portfolio in Motion 2008, the annual student fashion show.
The universities' Designer of the Year Award is presented annually to a fashion designer who has achieved excellence in the field of fashion, and has captured the imagination of both the industry and the public. Cynthia Rowley designed her first dress at age seven and sold her first collection to prominent New York stores while still a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Over the years, the Cynthia Rowley Collection has grown to include women's and men's wear, shoes, handbags, eyewear, belts, home products, baby gear, legwear, umbrellas, cosmetics, and fragrance. Today, the collection is available worldwide in better department stores and in Cynthia Rowley shops in the United States, Japan, and Taiwan, as well as her online boutique. Ms. Rowley has developed an international following, and her creative endeavors have garnered the attention of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), which honored her with the prestigious Perry Ellis Award for Womenswear and a nomination for the Perry Ellis Award for New Menswear Design Talent. In addition, her latest book, Slim: A Fantasy Memoir, was released in May 2007, and she is currently taping the third season of Design Star on HGTV. In April 2008, Ms. Rowley will launch Whim, a new summer line of fun and entertainment products at Target. The theme of Portfolio in Motion 2008 is Fashionology, and the show will feature cutting-edge fashion that reflects today's technology-driven culture. It will showcase jury-selected garments designed and made by students in Marymount's Fashion Design program. The show is produced by the University's Fashion Merchandising students. Every aspect of the production-from first sketches to finished garments and from set design and choreography to the final runway walk-is the product of student imagination and effort.
Tickets for the Portfolio in Motion luncheon show, at which Ms. Rowley will receive the Designer of the Year award, are $100. Sponsorship packages are also available. For ticket sales and sponsorship information, please call (703) 526-6981