Newspaper-Inspired Fashions Make Headlines on the Runway

NEW YORK, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Four leading green fashion designers made news today – "yesterday's news'' that is – by turning recycled newspaper into eco-friendly fashions. The unique, trend-setting designs were unveiled at the Yesterday's News® Green Catwalk Event and Workshop in New York City.  Made with recycled newspaper, Yesterday's News® brand cat litter served as inspiration for eco-friendly designers Anthony Lilore of RESTORE CLOTHING™, Bahar Shahpar, Lara Miller and Samantha Pleet, who debuted their original fashions made from newspaper at the New York City event.  The designs will all be auctioned off for charity from Sept. 22-29, 2010 (www.DoGooderChallenge.com), with proceeds going to each designer's green charity of choice.

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(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100922/MM65792 )

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100922/MM65792 )

The fashion show and green workshop event was part of the Yesterday's News Do-Gooder Design Challenge, a campaign to celebrate the millions of cat owners across the country who make good green choices for their cats, home and environment.  The campaign is also helping to spread the word that going green is in fashion all year-round.  

"Today's event demonstrates that good, green choices should be a part of every aspect of our lives -- from the way we dress to the food we eat to the way we care for our cats," said Renee Loux,  green living expert, author and spokesperson for the Yesterday's News® Do-Gooder Design Challenge.  "It was a thrill to see the amazing and stylish newspaper fashions created by these leading eco-friendly designers.  Now, cat owners everywhere can do their part by bidding on their favorite designs to benefit green charities."

The event, which was free and open to the public, also marked the conclusion of the Yesterday's News® Handbag Design Contest that challenged cat owners to design the "it" handbag of the season using assets from the cat litter brand's new recyclable packaging.  Through a custom-built online application, cat owners could select a handbag style from 16 different options and create their own design by choosing different colors, patterns, shapes and sizes.

The three Grand Prize Winners of the Yesterday's News Handbag Design Contest had their designs turned into actual handbags by leading eco-friendly handbag designer, Elias Abadi, president and head designer of Nahui Ollin, Candy Wrapper Handbags.  The final handbag prototypes were unveiled for the first time to the contest winners who were in the audience at the Green Catwalk event.  The three Grand Prize winners are: Dr. Deborah Ekstrom (Rutland, Mass.), Leigh Hoodenpyle (Fletcher, N.C.) and Robin Traylor (Oklahoma City, Okla.).

Eco-friendly fashionistas and other "do-gooders" can bid on the newspaper designs and the three handbags – all collector's items from this first-of-its-kind Green Catwalk event -- during the Yesterday's News Do-Gooder Charity Auction.  The charity auction, hosted by eBay, will run from September 22-29 and will be managed by Auction Cause, a premier online auction management agency. Proceeds from the highest bid for each item will go to the designers' green charities of choice. Consumers can visit www.DoGooderChallenge.com for charity auction information. In addition, Yesterday's News is making a $6,000 donation to each charity. The charities include: Kiva, Riverkeeper, The Land Connection and Trees for the Future.  

"It was exciting to see our designers embrace the Do-Gooder Design Challenge and transform newspaper into fashion-forward designs that looked fabulous on the runway and will benefit good green causes," said Vanessa Hutt, Assistant Brand Manager, Yesterday's News. "We know that millions of cat owners share our commitment to 'do good' all year round and we encourage everyone to start taking small steps to live green in their daily lives."

Following the fashion show, attendees were also invited to visit the Green Workshop to learn green living tips for their cats, home and environment from a number of eco-friendly experts including: Kaight, Riverkeeper, Teens Turning Green, DEX New York, green living expert Renee Loux and the five eco-friendly designers.  

Yesterday's News is a cat litter made from recycled materials including paper and sawdust. On average, 44 million pounds of paper is recycled into Yesterday's News each year. The eco-friendly cat litter introduced a new recyclable bag – one of the first in the pet care industry – in January 2010. For more information on Yesterday's News, the Do Gooder Design Challenge and Handbag Design Contest, go to www.DoGooderChallenge.com.

About Nestle Purina PetCare Company

Yesterday's News® brand cat litter is manufactured by Nestle Purina PetCare Company which promotes responsible pet care, humane education, community involvement and the positive bond between people and their pets. The North American headquarters for Nestle Purina PetCare is located at Checkerboard Square in St. Louis, Missouri, where Ralston Purina was founded more than a century ago. The company is part of the Swiss-based Nestle S.A. – the world's largest food company.

About eBay

Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) connects hundreds of millions of buyers and sellers globally on a daily basis through eBay, the world's largest online marketplace, and PayPal, which enables individuals and businesses to securely, easily and quickly send and receive online payments. We also reach millions through specialized marketplaces such as StubHub, the world's largest ticket marketplace, and eBay Classifieds sites, which together have a presence in more than 1,000 cities around the world. For more information about the company and our global portfolio of online brands, visit www.ebayinc.com.

SOURCE Yesterday's News