For Immediate Release

Todd Oldham encourages Canadian students to Design Against Fur!

Internationally renowned designer advocates compassion in fashion

Montreal – 24 January 2005 Todd Oldham, the internationally renowned fashion and lifestyle designer, is supporting the third annual Design Against Fur competition, a worldwide student poster design contest sponsored by The Fur Free Alliance. In Canada, the Montreal based Global Action Network is hosting the competition.

Based in New York City, Todd Oldham has been designing clothing, products and living spaces for 20 years. Guided by a colourful, modern design philosophy Todd has designed clothes for the likes of Julia Roberts and Uma Thurman, a Home collection for Target, The Hotel in Miami, wristwatches for Fossil and most recently a mod 62-piece furniture collection for the famed La-Z-boy furniture manufacturer. He has also hosted shows on MTV and appears regularly on NBC’s "The Today Show."

A long-standing opponent of the use of fur in fashion, Oldham states: "The Design Against Fur contest is a forum for young, up-and-coming art and design students to put their creative talents to work on behalf of animals. An important part of living life is demonstrating compassion for others, animals and the environment."

Organizers of the contest say it’s an important way for students to provide a meaningful contribution to ending the cruel fur trade. “With young people setting fashion trends and 50% of fur and fur trim currently purchased by consumers younger than 40 years of age, it is critically important that the younger generation be knowledgeable about the fur trade - an industry that slaughters over 40 million animals worldwide annually - 2 million in Canada” says Regina Flores, Campaign Coordinator for the Global Action Network.

Design Against Fur is open to all students enrolled in a 2004-2005 recognized design, fashion, art, marketing, multimedia or advertising course who would like to design an innovative anti-fur poster. The grand prize includes 5000 euros and an all expenses paid trip to a European capital for the awards ceremony.

The message to be conveyed in this year’s poster is the simple reality that “fur is cruel”. The deadline to register is 22 March 2005. The poster submission deadline is 30 April 2005. Students can find out more about the competition and register online at www.gan.ca.

Contacts:

To schedule an interview with Todd Oldham please contact:Regina Flores at ph: 514.939.5525, cell: 514.949.2846, email: regina@gan.ca