LOS ANGELES, Jan 26, 2006/ FW/ --- Heart disease is the #1 killer of women, and ‘The Red Dress’ was created to symbolize women and heart disease awareness. And on Friday, February 3, 2006, the ‘Red Dress Collection,’ an initiative by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) returns to Bryant Park for the fourth year.

More than twenty female musical artists encompassing all music genres from country and rock to hip hop and Broadway—including luminaries Amerie, Bebe Neuwirth, CeCe Winans, Christina Milian, Debbie Harry, Eartha Kitt, Jossie Perez, LeAnn Rimes, Lee Ann Womack, Michelle Phillips, Nelly Furtado, Sheryl Crow, Fergie and Thalía—are expected to walk the Red runway to support the cause.

They will be wearing Red Dresses created by the following top designers: Betsey Johnson, BCBG Max Azria, Calvin Klein, Carmen Marc Valvo, Daniel Swarovski, Diane von Furstenberg, Donna Karan, Esteban Cortazar, Kenneth Cole, Luca Luca, Michael Kors, Narciso Rodriguez, Nicole Miller, Oscar de la Renta, Ralph Lauren, Richard Tyler, Sean by Sean Combs, Tommy Hilfiger, Tracy Reese, Vera Wang, Zac Posen

In its critically-acclaimed style—with the support of the fashion industry, co-sponsors Johnson & Johnson and affiliated companies, and Celestial Seasonings, and Swarovski, and magazine partners Woman’s Day and Elle—The Heart Truth and its Red Dress Collection 2006, an ensemble of red dresses designed to raise awareness about women’s risk for heart disease, presents a theatrical production that combines fashion, music, and heart health.

NHLBI’s ingenious creation of the Red Dress provided the much-needed rallying symbol to unite partners—the fashion world, women’s health community, major corporations, and voluntary and community groups—toward a common goal of greater awareness and better heart health for all women.

For more information, visit www.hearttruth.gov