Paris, March 5th 2006. Whirlpool announced a major partnership with leading fashion designer Antonio Berardi.

The partnership is a major design breakthrough for Whirlpool. It represents a joint creative vision and is a crucial fashion industry endorsement for Whirlpool’s Prêt-à-porter clothes refresher and the Whirlpool brand.

Berardi has applied his unique vision and knowledge of fabrics to create a collection exclusively for Whirlpool, The Prêt-à-porter Collection.

Unveiled at Berardi’s catwalk show during Paris Fashion Week, the Prêt-à-porter Collection is a set of original Antonio Berardi outfits inspired by the fabrics that work best in the Prêt-à-porter clothes refresher; delicates, such as cashmere, wool and silk, as well as mixed fabrics and synthetics. The Prêt-à-porter Collection is the ultimate embodiment of the product’s unique benefits - for those special pieces that you wish would last forever, as well as for every day basics worn day in, day out.

In addition Whirlpool, renowned for their innovative home appliance design and technology, has commissioned Berardi to create a Limited Edition of the Prêt-à-porter clothes refresher – a custom-made, hand-finished unit that will be sold at selected high-end stores across Europe from the autumn 2006.