Ecco Domani® wines is proud to announce the 2006 winners of the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation (EDFF) awards: Brian Reyes, Hanuk, Rodarte, Vena Cava, and VPL in the women's design category, and Rag & Bone, in the men's design category. Each designer received a grant of $25,000 to showcase a collection during February 2006 fashion week. Every year, Ecco Domani wines selects six emerging designers and gives them a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to show their designs.

"The 2006 competition was by far the most difficult, with more applications than in years past and a dramatic increase in the overall caliber of entries," said Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation judge Marylou Luther, editor at The International Fashion Syndicate. "To select only six winners from such a talented group was a major challenge, but the designers chosen were a cut above the rest."

More about the designers:

VPL (Visible Panty Line) was founded by Victoria Bartlett in 2003. VPL designs allow what was formerly under the surface to become an apparent and integral part of the overall wardrobe.

This year's winners of the women's design category were selected by a distinguished committee of fashion insiders including Marylou Luther; Sally Singer, Fashion News/Features Director at Vogue Magazine; Kim Hastreiter, Editor-in-Chief & Publisher of Paper Magazine; Julie Gilhart, Vice President of Fashion Merchandising at Barneys; and Ruth Finley, Publisher of The Fashion Calendar. The men's category committee included Madeline Weeks, Fashion Director for GQ Magazine and Jay Bell, Buyer for Menswear Design at Barneys New York.

"This year marks the fifth anniversary of the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation and we're proud to see the program grow to the level of prestige it has today. The success of EDFF is undoubtedly due to the outstanding judging panel and their ability to identify the future stars of fashion," said David Bowman, Marketing Director for Ecco Domani wines. "We're always thrilled to see past EDFF winners reach new heights in their careers and we hope this year's winners will achieve even greater success."

About the EDFF Awards

Designers from across the U.S. submitted applications via the Ecco Domani Web site, http://www.eccodomani.com. To be eligible, entrants must be in the design business for no longer than five years and have a minimum of one retail account. In addition to references, applicants are required to submit look books and/or photographs of their work. From the initial pool of applicants, 25 semi-finalists were chosen and then evaluated on samples of their most recent ready-to-wear women's and men's collections. From this talented group the judges voted on the final six.

Ecco Domani is proud to have helped launch the careers of fashion designers such as Zac Posen, Harmon, Libertine, Project Alabama, Palmer Jones, Proenza Schouler, Doo.Ri, Peter Som, Mary Ping, Tess Giberson, Derek Lam, Jeffrey Chow, Trovata and the design collective, As Four.