Ovation and Conde Nast Entertainment Announce "The Fashion Fund"

LOS ANGELES, July 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Ovation, America's only arts network, and Conde Nast Entertainment announced "The Fashion Fund," a premier television fashion series. The series documents the excitement of emerging fashion designers vying for the chance to be named the 2013 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund winner. "The Fashion Fund" premieres this December, only on Ovation.

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The CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund is in its 10^th year and has transformed emerging designers into true fashion icons, like inaugural winners Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler.

"This is the real deal.  There have been a lot of fashion competition series on television, but nothing comes close to matching the authenticity and talent found in 'The Fashion Fund'," said Robert Weiss, Ovation's Chief Creative Officer.  "It's truly an honor to be working with the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund." 

Working alongside some of the top names in fashion, ten innovative, American-based designers, compete for the top award that carries an incredible $300,000 grant and a one-year mentorship with an industry titan.  The CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund selection committee is comprised of iconic names from Anna Wintour and Diane von Furstenberg to top-level executives such as Ken Downing of Neiman Marcus, Andrew Rosen of Theory, Jenna Lyons of J.Crew, and more.

"'The Fashion Fund' will captivate audiences, documenting the rise of the next generation of designers as they gain immeasurable insight from the industry's foremost talent," said Dawn Ostroff, President, Conde Nast Entertainment. "Ovation is a perfect home for the series and we look forward to giving viewers a behind-the-scenes look."

Watching "The Fashion Fund," viewers are given exclusive glimpses into the fashion world as they journey into the lives of the emerging designers.  We get to know the designers as their visions, technical abilities, and business acumen are all tested – pushing them to their highest potential. The series takes viewers inside legendary studio visits, a Vogue fashion photo shoot and culminates with a presentation at NYC Fashion Week and the announcement of the 2013 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund winner. "The Fashion Fund" series is an unprecedented look at a level of support, encouragement and insight that few other designers will ever receive.  

"The Fashion Fund" will premiere in December of 2013 with six, initial one-hour episodes on Ovation.  The series is produced by Break Thru Films in association with CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America), Vogue and Conde Nast Entertainment. 

About Conde Nast Entertainment (CNE)

Conde Nast Entertainment (CNE) is a division of Conde Nast that focuses on the development, production and distribution of original television, feature film and digital video offerings based on the company's iconic media brands, which for more than 100 years, have created the world's greatest content for the world's most influential audiences. Follow us on Twitter @CNEnt.

Conde Nast is home to some of the world's most celebrated media brands. In the United States, Conde Nast publishes 18 consumer magazines, four business-to-business publications, 27 websites, and more than 50 apps for mobile and tablet devices, all of which define excellence in their categories. The company also owns Fairchild Fashion Media (FFM), whose portfolio of brands serves as the leading source of news and analysis for the global fashion community. Conde Nast has won more National Magazine Awards over the past 10 years than all of its competitors combined. For more information, visit condenast.com or follow us on Twitter @CondeNastCorp.

About Break Thru Films

Break Thru Films is headed by Emmy nominated directors, writers, and producers Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg. Their mission is to create powerful character-­driven documentaries and dramatic films. Ricki and Annie's films Joan Rivers -­ A Piece Of Work, The Devil Came on Horseback, Burma Soldier, and The Trials of Darryl Hunt have been Sundance and Tribeca Film Festival favorites winning numerous awards airing on HBO, National Geographic, Showtime. Other projects include: Secret Access: UFO's On the Record (History Channel), and short films for Kenneth Cole, Sundance Institute / Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.  Most recently, they created the national marriage equality spots for the Human Rights Campaign. Annie and Ricki have been recognized with the Best Female Filmmakers Award - San Diego Film Festival, Adrienne Shelly Excellence in Filmmaking Award and Lena Sharpe/Women in Cinema Persistence of Vision Award-Seattle International Film Festival.

About Ovation

Ovation is America's only arts network, whose mission is to surface and connect the world to all forms of art and artistic expression. Ovation programming is one-of-a-kind mix of original and selectively curated series, films, documentaries and specials. The network reaches a national audience of nearly 50 million homes and is available on national cable systems, as well as nationally on DIRECTV, Dish, Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-Verse. Ovation is also available on VOD (in both standard and high definition). Ovation's diversified viewer experiences extend across its linear network, the popular ovationtv.com, and active social presence on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more. See the Ovation Facebook page for the latest information and conversations happening across the Ovation brand and the arts: www.facebook.com/OvationTV.

For images and more, visit the Ovation press site at www.ovationtv.com/media

SOURCE Ovation