Designer Sherri Hill Appointed Fashion Sponsor For the 60th Annual MISS USA® PAGEANT

June 9, 2011 - PRLog -- New York, NY – June 9, 2011 – The Miss Universe Organization announced Sherri Hill as the Official Fashion Sponsor for the 60th annual MISS USA® Pageant.  For Oklahoma-based Designer Sherri Hill that means as the 2011 MISS USA® Pageant airs live from Las Vegas on June 19th, 51 of the most beautiful and talented women in the country will grace the stage in one of her designs.

From short and sequined cocktail dresses, to long and elegant evening gowns – an assortment of Sherri Hill’s special occasion dressing - as varied as the contestants themselves - will be making their international debut.  Designer Sherri Hill was a natural choice as the pageant’s official fashion sponsor having garnered her prestigious position as one of the top “go-to” designers for pageant contestants worldwide, counting more evening gown competition winners than any other fashion designer.

Both Miss USA and Miss Universe contestants have long relied on Sherri Hill’s talents for designing the one-of-a-kind couture gowns worn and judged in the traditional evening gown competition (in fact, 20 of the 51 contestants competing in this year’s pageant have commissioned a custom Sherri Hill gown as their evening gown of choice).  “It’s a real art form to marry an individual contestant's personality and sense of style into one defining dress," says Sherri Hill.  “My goal is to always create a look that is fresh, elegant and distinctive and allows each contestant to stand apart without distracting from her own beauty.  It is also imperative that each gown be comfortable and easy to walk in allowing seamless movement on stage."

During the evening’s opening number the designer has chosen 51 different and unique designs for each contestant to wear from her new 2011 ready-to-wear collections which are available to the worldwide viewing audience at retailers around the world.  "We worked a coordinated color story of red, white, blue, silver and gold for the group fashion segment, and will be presenting on-trend color, sparkle and shine as well as clean and streamlined silhouettes.”

Hill continues,  “Our challenge was to select styles to fit the shape and size of each contestant, yet have them all work together to create a cohesive story – much more difficult than just fabricating one dress style and slightly varying the details which is often done when designing large group productions.  This is what makes this partnership so exciting to me.”

Not only will Sherri Hill be providing the dresses for the opening number, but also all of the dresses for the official MISS USA program shoot, shot by leading Fashion Photographer Fadil Berisha. The program book will be available for sale on June 15th.

Sherri Hill was also involved with the 51 contestants before the pageant officially started during their Media Week in New York City where she donated t-shirts and sponsored the USO/MISS USA Bike Build where the contestants assembled and gave away bicycles to the families of our active duty armed forces.

Sherri Hill, apart from being one of the world’s most coveted pageant and prom dress designers, has created a name for herself on the red carpet, dressing Hollywood “it” girls, celebrities and fashion influencers, as well as the biggest names in the music and entertainment industry.

This year, the MISS USA® Pageant celebrates its 60th anniversary and will air live on NBC on Sunday, June 19th (9 p.m. EST) from the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas at the Theatre for Performing Arts.  The pageant will feature contestants from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.  Contestants will be judged in three categories: swimsuit, evening gown and interview.

ABOUT SHERRI HILL:

Sherri Hill's exclusive custom and ready-to-wear collections epitomize the fashionable lifestyle of today's thoroughly modern women.  From couture one-of-a-kind designs fabricated for entrance-making, award-winning moments - to prom and pageant gowns and dresses that define and set the stage for ageless fashion appeal - each authentic Sherri Hill look is designed to seamlessly enhance and fit the female form with fashion forward styling and wearability.  Sherri's expertise in special occasion dressing and decades-long career is filled with iconic design achievements for some of the world's most prestigious brands and fashion labels, and culminated with the launching of her own design house in 2008.  For more information, visit www.sherrihill.com.

Press Contact:  C.I. Visions Inc./212-477-4755

Carol A.  Ientile cientile@civisions.com/Angie Petersen apeterson@civisions.com