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Nicole Richie and John Varvatos join NBC's 'Fashion Star' as celebrity mentors

by Marwa
Thu, Jul 7th 2011 04:55 pm

NBC announced today that actress, author, philanthropist, and creative director Nicole Richie, as well as wll-admired American menswear designer John Varvatos will be featured on "Fashion Star," the new reality competition series searching to find the next big brand in fashion.

The announcements were made today by Paul Telegdy, executive vice president of alternative programming at NBC and Universal Media Studios.

"NBC could not have asked for better additions to the celebrity mentors than John Varvatos, one of the most well-known menswear designers in the nation and international style icon and creative director, Nicole Richie," said Telegdy. "Both are trendsetters and tastemakers and their design skills and expertise will be invaluable to our contestants on the series."

"Jessica, Nicole, John and Elle make the most exciting team we have ever worked with on a reality television show and we are thrilled to feature such an extraordinary group of mentors and designers," said Ben Silverman, CEO and founder of Electus and executive producer of "Fashion Star."

The series is designed not only to find America's next popular brand, but also to allow viewers at home to purchase the winning designs each week. The show will target real-time consumer feedback and interactivity and cover the entire fashion world, from dresses and suits to lingerie, denim, bathing suits, accessories and more.

Richie is known for her work on the hit series "The Simple Life" and has since appeared in several television series such as NBC's "Chuck" and "American Dreams." Richie launched and acts as creative director for her fast growing, internationally recognized fashion brands. In 2008, Richie introduced her House of Harlow 1960 jewelry collection, and later branched out into footwear, eyewear, and handbags. She debuted Winter Kate in 2010, a women's ready-to-wear collection supported by top retailers as Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and Shopbop.com. Between launching the two collections, Richie also has created a limited edition collaboration with the maternity line, Pea in the Pod.

Varvatos of Detroit got his start designing collections at Polo Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein. He launched his own company that represents an entire men's lifestyle brand in 2000. He has been recognized three times by the CFDA with an American Fashion Award for New Menswear Designer (June 2000) and Menswear Designer of the Year (June 2001 and June 2005) and honored as GQ's "Designer of the Year" in 2007.

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