Diet Pepsi continues to celebrate its passion for fashion, and announces a new ‘chick’ initiative to be rolled out at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week (February 9-16, NYC) in the coming days. The zero-calorie drink, which is one of the official sponsors of the event, will open its ‘Diet Pepsi Style Studio’ fashion show on February 9 at 8:00 p.m. in The Box at Lincoln Center, where it will unveil collections by four emerging fashion designers, who represent four different regions of the country and infuse their creations with a local spirit and touch. For this project, the brand teamed up with fashion commentator Simon Doonan, who curated the up-and-coming talents.
The designers—Shirin Askari (Dallas, Texas), Rachel Hurst (Denver, Colorado), Genoveva Christoff (Columbus, Ohio) and Elise Bergman (Chicago, Illinois)— will showcase their collections in the Diet Pepsi Style Studio, designed by Jonathan Adler. They were asked to build their collections on three major trends of the coming fall, «fierce safari prints, avant garde workwear and metallic finishes inspired by the refreshing Diet Pepsi can.» After the show, the brand will take the collections on display to the Grand Lobby of Lincoln Center in its Diet Pepsi Refresh Studio, which will offer its guests great fashion related experiences and ‘refreshing moments.’
“We’re excited to be partnering with regional designers who can bring their hometown perspective to the cutting-edge fashion of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. We hope that by translating high-end trends, we are opening the doors of the industry’s premiere event, and making style accessible to all women,” shared Amy Wirtanen, Senior Marketing Director Pepsi Beverages Company.
Ahead of the event, Mercedes-Benz is encouraging fashionistas to develop new styles on the virtual Polyvore platform. The brand has launched the Star Style Challenge, which will be running February 7-16 and will allow users to develop special looks or ‘sets’ that answer the following question: “What does ultimate star style look like on the red carpet at the Academy Awards?” To create collages, entrants can use images of the autos of the brand, inscriptions, dresses and more—then, they will spread the looks, get more comments and community likes. Guest judge Naeem Khan, “the designer known for adorning starlets in impeccably cut dresses” will choose the best set based on creativity and originality, and the winner will get a trip for 2 to New York City to attend Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in September 2012 as well as an exclusive access to the Mercedes-Benz Star Lounge.