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Kathy Ireland - a brief biography
Kathy Ireland began her career as a supermodel and morphed into what the Associated Press and London Times call "a best friend to working mothers" because women all over America are embracing her designs and products. "Our mission statement at Kathy Ireland Worldwide is to find solutions for families, especially busy moms, because that's what I am," Kathy explains. Kathy Ireland is a wife, mother, Sunday school teacher and Chief Designer and CEO of Kathy Ireland Worldwide (KIWW). She balances these responsibilities while leading the brand which just two years ago was acknowledged by Women's Wear Daily as America's 7th most popular in its category, and now has moved up to the coveted #5 position with women 18-49. The Kathy Ireland Brand is recognized as the #1 brand in its category for Product Innovation in America by the country's leading research firm, Kurt Salmon Associates. Kathy was honored by the National Association of Women Business Owners and received the Entertainment Businesswoman of the Year Award. She is the only designer in history to have an LPGA-sponsored tournament named in her honor, The Kathy Ireland Championship Honoring Harvey Penick. KIWW's relationship with the LPGA supports women's athletics and education. The genesis of Kathy Ireland Worldwide occurred in 1993 when founder and CEO Kathy Ireland brought her unique perspectives to American women with a collection of designer socks. Kathy was inspired to create her products after working with some of the world's most famous designers. "I wanted to offer fashions and accessories to women at affordable costs with the style found on the world's most recognized runways." Out of this desire, the Kathy Ireland Brand was born, exemplifying her philosophy of high quality merchandise with great style and family-friendly pricing. "As a busy mom, finding time to shop is a challenging task," explains Kathy, who designs her apparel collections with this in mind. Kathy creates soft, versatile, compatible pieces that make shopping fun and easy for her customer. "My sportswear, activewear, swimwear, intimates, and socks are designed for women who value time and are wise with their money. We should be able to look great, feel great and invest more time and money into other priorities such as our families." Kathy's goal is to change the landscape of the fashion world with her efforts as a designer for busy families. "I wouldn't be comfortable as a celebrity endorsing products. My background in modeling alerted me to images and clothing that were unrealistic. It's important that everything under my label carry my personal involvement," she explains. KIWW is committed to creating customer satisfaction through constant innovation in product, an extraordinary commitment to quality and continuing to establish alliances with corporations who share core values. Through dedicated media outreach to two of the Brand's core constituents, the Hispanic and African-American communities, the Brand has dramatically increased its awareness and fostered a strong and growing relationship with America's two largest minority groups. A concentrated grass-roots campaign is at the core of the Brand's marketing strategy. Kathy regularly communicates with her consumer through various media outlets including television, print and radio. Through her award-winning website kathyireland.com, she encourages an open dialogue with the women she serves. This dialogue and feedback are critical factors in the execution of the brand's mission statement. No products are sold on kathyireland.com. It is strictly a communication channel. To reinforce Kathy's credibility as a designer, besides her tribute from Women's Wear Daily, her collections are regularly featured in the same prestigious magazines that ask her to grace their covers: Cosmopolitan, Glamour, McCalls, People, Redbook, Shape and Fit Pregnancy. Her products are regularly featured editorially beside those of Oscar de la Renta, Tommy Hilfiger, Cartier, Liz Claiborne, Charles Jourdan, and Gucci. Kathy is a favorite guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, bringing fashion shows there, as well as to MSNBC, The Today Show, Rosie O'Donnell, Oprah, Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, The Main Floor, and to specials on E! and VH1. Internationally, the Kathy Ireland Brand appears in Elle, Marie Claire, Latina, Cosmopolitan, Teen People Espanol and Harper's Bazaar, and has received wonderful reviews from Good Housekeeping, Latina, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Crecer Feliz, People Espanol and Teen People Espanol. Kathy continues to bring fashion shows to Despierta America and Sabado Gigante, two of international television's most important series. The Brand enjoys a unique position of high consumer loyalty, unsurpassed by industry leaders such as Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Liz Claiborne and Gap. This is confirmed by recently published marketing research data. Kathy expanded her Women's Swim line and created her wildly successful Mix and Match collection, inspired by the fact that "beautiful women come in all shapes and sizes. Mix and Match allows women to have a personal swimsuit that's a perfect size. You blend your top and bottom according to style, color, and size, celebrating every woman's personal beauty." In 1999, Kathy Ireland: Just For Girls debuted, enhancing the success of her entire swim collection. Following that, the Kathy Ireland Just For Girls line of accessories debuted in the fall of 1999. Kathy launched her successful maternity collection, changing the perceptions of fashion and pregnancy by offering fashionable, soft, and feminine styles, reminding the customer just how beautiful expectant mothers are. Kathy's products also include a collection of home furnishings and accessories, sleepwear, shoes, heavy and lightweight fitness equipment, watches, sunglasses, precious jewelry and sewing patterns. Kathy's Home Collection features pieces that are comfortable, casual, family-friendly and compatible with other pieces. Her inspiration comes from her travels to countries all over the world. She is especially influenced by Great Britain. As a child, she visited England, the birthplace of her father, and was influenced by many of the homes and properties which reflect the richness of the country's history, particularly Windsor Castle. His Royal Highness The Prince Edward counseled Kathy and her team on the restoration of Windsor Castle before the collection was developed. The Kathy Ireland Home Collection, which includes furniture, rugs, carpet, lamps, art, and other home accessories, was named among the Best of Market during its launch in Highpoint, North Carolina. Soon after, the Discovery Channel asked if Kathy would design the set and carpeting for their popular home program, The Christopher Lowell Show. Kathy partnered with leading online retailer, FurnitureFind.com in an effort to make furniture shopping easy and fun for customers worldwide. Aside from featuring an online gallery of her Home Collection, Kathy serves as FurnitureFind's Lifestyle Editor, providing home decorating solutions to visitors each day. Kathy Ireland Worldwide's diverse business interests include retaining the services of Celebrity Ambassadors and experts to facilitate the Brand mission statement. AndreCafé.com, a division of KIWW, is an integrated brand devoted to food and entertaining. Jardin du Jour, also a division of KIWW, is an integrated brand devoted to outdoor living. Debuting in 2001, Jardin du Jour was awarded the Gold Medal for design excellence at the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show, the Nation's leading horticultural exhibition. Even with Kathy's responsibilities caring for her family, designing, and promoting her collections, she is actively working with various non-profit organizations. She was just named by UCLA as one of the top 10 women's health advocates in America. Kathy is the Entertainment Industry Foundation's (EIF) Ambassador for Women's Health Issues and EIF's Ambassador for the National Women's Cancer Research Alliance. She is Ambassador of Hope for the City of Hope and National Chair of Family Services and Parenting for Athletes and Entertainers for Kids. She is active in the Special Olympics, and each holiday season, Kathy partners with Feed The Children and underwrites the distribution of 170,000 pounds of food, clothing and toys to children in need across the nation. Kathy has pioneered the way in bringing this country its first and only national wish-granting organization for terminally ill adults, the Dream Foundation. As Dream Ambassador, Kathy represents the Dream Foundation to corporations, helping to strengthen and build the resources necessary to make dreams come true for families. Kathy is responsible for the endowment of the Floyd Hall Fellowship Grant Program, which is awarded annually by the American Paralysis Association to the leading scientist in the field of spinal cord regeneration. The Fellowship grants major funding to researchers making strides in the search for a cure for paralysis. Kathy responded to the devastation of Hurricane Mitch by contributing a donation of over one hundred thousand dollars of her sportswear collection to Honduras and Nicaragua. Kathy's strong commitment to human rights began with her father's career in labor relations when she was a child. Marching with Cesar Chavez, Kathy learned about the struggle for equality and developed a strong relationship with the Latino community. During her maternity leave, Kathy began Spanish lessons, thus allowing her to create bilingual materials for the March of Dimes, to disseminate information on healthier babies to the Spanish speaking population. One of Kathy's Christmas projects is her support of the women and children at Casa Julia de Burgos in Puerto Rico, where clothing, toys and food are distributed to those in need in a holiday atmosphere. Kathy created www.kathyireland.com out of her desire to provide information to the public on issues concerning fashion, home, health, family, grooming, fitness, business and travel. The award winning website has received honors from Yahoo!, USA Today and Entertainment Weekly. As a health and wellness advocate, Kathy is dedicated to sharing health information to women and children worldwide. She is a certified fitness instructor and is the producer of five internationally best-selling fitness videos. Growing up in Santa Barbara, California, Kathy was discovered by a scout from Elite Modeling Agency and by age 17, was traveling the world as a fashion model. She soon reached "supermodel" fame, appearing on covers of countless magazines, including Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Harper's Bazaar and Sports Illustrated. As an actress, Kathy most recently appeared on Strong Medicine, Touched By Angel and Sabrina the Teenage Witch and starred on stage in Pulitzer Prize winning author Edward Albee's Three Tall Women. She has signed deals with NBC and Viacom and is currently developing multiple projects for the network and studio. In the Holiday 2000 season, Kathy co-starred with Touched By An Angel's John Dye in the highly successful Once Upon A Christmas, the first original MOW programming for the PAX Network, produced by His Royal Highness, The Prince Edward. The sequel Twice Upon A Christmas aired in the 2002 holiday season, also on the PAX Network, and received a special screening at the White House given by First Lady Laura Bush. Kathy is a sought after voice-over artist; she has created animated characters in the following shows: The Incredible Hulk, The Fantastic Four, Duckman, and King of the Hill. Kathy lives in Southern California with her husband Greg, an emergency room physician, and their two children, Erik and Lily. Kathy Ireland Worldwide is represented exclusively by Sterling/Winters Company. |
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