LOS ANGELES, Oct 16, 2005/ FW/ ---- While Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios kicks off today, San Francisco heats up with the line up of U.S. and international designers who will show during the city’s debut of SFIFW.

Confirmed design talents who will present their Spring / Summer 2006 collections are: Gaspard Yurkievich (France), Isabelle Ballu (France), Afshin Feiz (France), Sebastien Meunier (France), Pierre-Henri Mattout (France), Paul Munroe (South Africa), Black Coffee (South Africa), Shantanu & Nikhil (India), Manish Arora (India), Payal Jain (India), Rajo Laurel (Philippines), Anu Mahal (USA) Joseph Domingo (USA), Cari Borja (USA), and Lloyd Klein (USA).

“San Francisco International Fashion Week’s goals are twofold. First, we’re bringing internationally known fashion designers from five diverse countries to San Francisco in a way never before attempted. Second, we are providing an International- American flavor for designer's to exchange, display and celebrate global creativity through fashion. No better place to fuse the two markets, than the multicultural city that breathes International art, fashion, food and people than San Francisco, California," said Jacinta Law, CEO of International Fashion Industries, Inc. in a statement.

In addition to the catwalk shows, SFIFW will host three workshops for fashion industry professionals and students. The workshops will feature guest speaker Crystal Wright (author and celebrated stylist), Melissa Maynard Style Writer & Contributor for the Chicago Tribune and Editor of Factio Magazine and Summer Rayne Oakes, SuperModel & Social Entrepreneur.

For more information, please log on: http://www.sfifw.com