Printable Biography of Kathy Ireland

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She balances these responsibilities, while leading the brand Women's Wear Daily named America's 7th most popular. In 1999, Ireland was honored by The National Association of Women Business Owners and received The Entertainment Business Woman of the Year Award. With the exception of Dinah Shore, she is the only woman in history to have an LPGA-sponsored tournament named in her honor. The annual classic benefits the City of Hope.

Ireland was inspired to create her products after working with some of the world's most famous designers. "I wanted to offer fashions and accessories to women at affordable costs with the style found on the world's most recognized runways." Out of this desire, the Kathy Ireland Brand was born, exemplifying Ireland 's philosophy of high quality merchandise with great style and family-friendly pricing. "As a busy mom, finding time to shop is a challenging task," explains Ireland, who designs her apparel collections with this in mind. Ireland creates soft, versatile, compatible pieces that make shopping fun and easy for her customer. "My sportswear, bodywear, swimwear, intimates and socks are designed for women who are time-starved and wise with their money. We should be able to look great, feel great and invest more time and money into other priorities ... such as our families." Ireland’s goal is to change the landscape of the fashion world with her efforts as a designer for busy families. "I wouldn't be comfortable as a celebrity endorsing products. My background in modeling alerted me to images and clothing that were unrealistic. It's important that everything under my label carry my personal involvement," she explains.

To reinforce Ireland 's credibility as a designer, besides her tribute from Women's Wear Daily, her collections are regularly featured in the same prestigious magazines that ask her to grace their covers: Cosmopolitan, Glamour, McCalls, People, Redbook, Shape and Fit Pregnancy. Her products are regularly featured editorially beside those of Oscar de la Renta, Tommy Hilfiger, Cartier, Liz Claiborne, Charles Jourdan and Gucci. Ireland is a favorite guest on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," bringing fashion shows there, as well as to MSNBC, "The Today Show," "The Rosie O'Donnell Show," "Oprah," Entertainment Tonight," "Access Hollywood," "The Main Floor" and to specials on E! and VH1. Even with Ireland’s responsibilities caring for her family, designing, and promoting her collections, she is actively working with various non-profit organizations. She serves as Honorary Chair for the March of Dimes WalkAmerica program and participates in walks that draw more than one million participants in 1,400 communities across the country. She was just named by UCLA as one of the top 10 women's health advocates in America. Ireland is the Entertainment Industry Foundation's (EIF) Ambassador for Women's Health Issues and EIF's Ambassador for the National Women's Cancer Research Alliance. She is Ambassador of Hope for the City of Hope and Chairperson of Family Services and Parenting for Athletes and Entertainers for Kids. She is active in the Special Olympics, and each holiday season, KATHY partners with Feed The Children and underwrites the distribution of 170,000 pounds of food, clothing and toys to children in need across the nation.