NEW YORK, Jan 28, 2004/ FW/ --- On the eve of New York Fashion Week Fall 2004 season, Gen Art, the nation's leading arts and entertainment organization dedicated to showcasing emerging artists, will hold its highly anticipated Fall 2004 fashion show at the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria on Thursday, February 5, at 8:00PM.

Presented under the sponsorship of L'Oreal Feria, a total beauty care company, hot new creations will be shown by three of the industry's rising stars: Ingwa;melero, ChenPascual and Oliver Christian Herold.

Friends since childhood, the two German-born women began fostering their love of design since they were kids.

Nike trained at the Fashion Institute of Techonology while Tina sutudied at the Fachhoch-schule in Dusseldorf, Germany where she received a Mastes degree in graphic arts.

In 2001, the two friends moved to New York to pursue their fashion dreams and founded Ingwa;Melero. The following year, the unique sexy looks of Ingwa;Melero had attracted industry praise and they became finalists at Gen Art's Styles 2002 competition.

That same year, the design duo was nominated for the Fashion Group International Rising Star Women's Apparel Award in recognition of their work in 2002.

The signature designs of Ingwa;Melero which are individualistic, unique and simply feminine have attracted Kate Winslet, Sarah Jessica Parker, LeAnne Rimes and Kelly Ripa.

She worked in new York at Anne Klein, Isabel Toledo, Joan Vass before continuing towards a research degree at the Royal College of Art, London.

In 1998, Maria was a finalist for the Jerwood prize as one of the young stars in British Fashion Design, enabling her to show her first catwalk collection.

Showing for two seasons "off-schedule" in London, Maria was awarded two seasons of the New Generation Awards sponsored by Marks & Spencer during London Fashion Week.

She is now one of the designers designing a capsule range for Topshop, a major high-street retailer in the U.K.

This coming year, the ChenPascual label will launch it's own concept store in London, off Carnaby Street.

Known for her original fabric techniques, Maria's sometimes androgynous and dramatically dark style combines innovation with fabric, leather, over-dyeing, bleaching and out jersey fabrics, rah-rah shapes and prom dresses.

Her celebrity clientele includes Kate Moss, Madonna, PJ Harvey, Rose McGowan, Marilyn Manson, Anthony Kiedis and David Bowie.

After studying business at Marymont University in Arlington, VA, Herold received a degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology. In pursuit of perfecting his design concepts, he also studied Fashion Design at Pratt Institute and Fine Arts at Corcoran School of Art in Washington D.C.

Herold spent two years as a production coordinator for Isaac Mizrahi where he put his fashion degree to work and learned the intricacies of the fashion business.

It wasn't until September 2001 that Herold could finally take his sketchboo full of designs to the runway with a small show.

A year and a half later, after an aggressive campaign, Herold enlisted Porsche to sponsor his Fall 2003 Fashion Show to coincide with New York Fashion Week.

Held off site at the Plaza, Herold's show garnered favorable press from top industry writers. Noted for his elegant and luxurious womenswear designs, Oliver Christian Herold's lines balances creativity with form and function.

"We are excited to bring such a strong group of designers to the Waldorf Astoria," said Gen Art Fashion Director Mary Gehlar. "With a diverse range of style and inspirations, the Gen Art runway will be full of vibrancy, innovation and some unexpected surprises.

Gen Art's fashion week sponsors include Acura, Ecru New York, Creative Nail Design, Ketel One Vodka, Invigor8 and Heineken.