SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Calling all fashion design industry professionals, students, and fans of style: The Art Institute of California – Los Angeles will be hosting an "April is Fashion Design Month" Fashion Speaker Series taking place on the campus, located at 2900 31st Street, Santa Monica, CA 90405. Mark your calendars now, as a standing room only attendance is anticipated. The elite group of guest speakers scheduled to make an appearance are all pioneers from the fashion industry. The speaker schedule is as follows:

Claude Brown, Fashion Design and Fashion Marketing & Management Academic Director at The Art Institute of California – Los Angeles, put together this speaker series to offer industry expertise to his students and to the public as well. The panel will offer very distinctive views of the global fashion complex, as seen from very distinctive perspectives: 1) a global retail giant, 2) Los Angeles artisan designers, 3) a personal/celebrity stylist and reality TV star, and 4) an entertainment costume designer. From very singular and uniquely individual visionaries come trends of broad appeal that spread across the globe.

Patrick Robinson is the Executive VP of Global Design, Gap Adult & Body. He has a wealth of experience from working in Europe and America as a fashion designer, giving him the unique perspective to shape, trend and create for the globally recognized GAP fashion brand. He will share his views on today's global trends, and how they impact the fashion designer. Robinson will also discuss the craft of designing to create a message and direction for a fashion brand, while committing to honoring the label's customer and brand identity.

Amy Glenn, Dragon Murja and Shpetim Zero will offer a glimpse into their creative processes by highlighting the rigorous interplay involved with establishing themselves as Los Angeles based fashion designers. Glenn's organic, Goth inspired jewelry and clothing; Murja's foray into the world of men's shoes produced in Serbia; and Zero's artistic approach to the singular world of Haute Couture, will each provide a fascinating view of how an artist's vision travels from Los Angeles to the global market place.

Brad Goreski is considered one of the most respected working celebrity stylists in the fashion industry. He will shed industry insider light on the stylists' influence on celebrity lifestyle, branding, marketing and the creation of trends.  His new reality series "It's a Brad, Brad World" was just announced by BRAVO network and will begin production soon.

Experienced with 43 movies in her portfolio, Betsy Heimann will detail her unique process of creating costume design for today's cinema. She'll also provide a "behind-the-scenes" peek at how she creates the wardrobes that play an important role in defining some of the most memorable characters in cinema.

Claude Brown invites fashion students, present and future designers to attend this speaker series. "Everyone will have the unique opportunity to hear from designers who are at the beginning of their careers, as well as from those who are at the very top of their game. To be able to listen to these distinguished individuals, and be able to ask them questions about their journey, vision, style, successes, failures, and, ultimately their choices; will perhaps inspire fashion students to push deeper and harder to find their own unique voice - so that they too might soon impact tomorrow's fashion."

For more information on the speaker series, or to RSVP, please contact: Claude Brown at clbrown@aii.edu.

The Art Institute of California – Los Angeles (www.artinstitutes.edu/los-angeles) is one of The Art Institutes (www.artinstitutes.edu), a system of more than 45 education institutions located throughout North America. The Art Institutes system is America's leader in creative education providing an important source for design, media arts, fashion and culinary arts professionals. Several institutions included in The Art Institutes system are campuses of South University.

SOURCE The Art Institute of California