The 2011 Nordic Fashion Biennale, a six-week-long exhibition celebrating design, fashion and innovation, will kick-off on September 30 with the two-day NFB 2011 Fashion Summit featuring top international designers and artists. The summit is designed to inspire conversation and exploration between master professionals, industry leaders, emerging designers, fashion students and trend setters. Key themes that are woven throughout the summit include slow fashion, sustainability and design, cultural heritage, and the business of fashion.

This unprecedented gathering in Seattle of top international fashion experts and designers will feature key presenters including:

· Áslaug Magnúsdottir, Iceland
Founder of Moda Operandi who has been dubbed 'fashion's fairy godmother' by Vogue and ‘one of the most influential people in British retail by Draper's

· Henrik Vibskov, Denmark
Founder of his self-named label and a sought-after international performer and drummer

· Orlando Palacios, United States
Owner and head-designer of the renowned New York haberdashery Worth & Worth.
· Annika Axelsson, Sweden
One of the founders of DEM Collective

· Yvan Mispelaere, France
Creative Designer for Diane Von Furstenberg

Additional highlights from the two-day program include:

Day 1: September 30
The first day will include a series of presentations covering, among other topics, forecasting fashion trends, slow fashion, ethics of fashion, and how to build a brand. The day will conclude with a screening of “Rabbit Hole,” Icelandic designer Mundi’s first foray into film which premiered at Paris Fashion Week 2010.

From 6- 8 pm, summit participants are invited to join VIPs at the Grand Opening of the Nordic Fashion Biennale.

Day 2: October 1
Day two will focus on the business of fashion, highlighting the personal journeys of success from some of fashion’s most respected experts including Pauline Brown, Steinunn Sigurðardóttir, Áslaug Magnúsdottir and Yvan Mispelaere. The day will conclude with a thrilling performance by the mesmerizing Henrik Vibskov.

Nicole Marion Miller, Owner and Creative Director of Blackbird, will moderate the summit along with New York-based Icelandic stylist and designer Edda Gudmundsdottir.

A complete list of topics, speakers and presenters, as well as registration information, is available at: www.nordicfashionbiennale.com.
Cost for the two-day summit is $150 ($60 students) and space is very limited so those interested are encouraged to register quickly.

The complete Biennale program includes a number of design-focused events, including:

· Looking Back to Find our Future: A six-week installation and exhibition, curated by New York-based Icelandic artist Hrafnhildur Arnardottir (aka Shoplifter) who is known for her collaboration with Björk and for her commissioned work for the Museum of Modern Art in New York (September 30 – November 13)

· Nordic Street Fashion: Photography exhibition of street fashion from Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo, Reykjavik, Stockholm, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands.

· NFB 2011 Fashion Summit: Two-day fashion summit with international speakers, centered on the themes of sustainability and fashion, slow fashion, and cultural heritage (September 30 – October 1)

· North by Northwest Fashion Competition: A competition created to encourage talented West coast designers to seek out new directions, and spark awareness of new trends in Nordic fashion.

The 2011 Nordic Fashion Bienalle is being produced in part due to the generous support from numerous partners including Iceland Naturally, Icelandair Cargo, Icelandic USA, Marel, Trilogy International Partners, Volvo, Scan|Design Foundation by Inger & Jens Bruun, Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, Artsfund, 4Culture, and Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs.

For complete information about the Nordic Fashion Biennale, visit www.nordicfashionbiennale.com.