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DESIGNER BRINGS FASHION WORLD TO FORD FLEX

DEARBORN, Mich., May 21, 2008 - Today's consumers are responding en masse to the world of high-end design.  Be it handbags, bridal gowns or kitchen appliances, everyone wants in the couture club.  Whether it is designers' Stella McCartney, Roberto Cavalli and Lagerfeld producing pieces for H&M (which sold out instantly), or Isaac Mizrahi, Cynthia Rowley and Liz Lange delivering chic to Target customers, the consumer migration toward high-end design continues. 

Former DKNY menswear designer Anthony Prozzi is expanding this trend by bringing a unique fashion sense to the highly anticipated Ford Flex.  Due in dealer's showroom this summer, Prozzi translated what he learned about fashion and luxury to automotive design, specifically the interior of the new Ford Flex.  Born in Queens, Prozzi's worked in several fashion houses and has dressed a cast of celebrities including super model Paulina Porizkova. 

Here's Prozzi's take on fashion, design, and today's automobile:

• "Consumer's tastes have evolved and have become more sophisticated with regard to detail and proportion.  Now more than ever people are driven by design, everyone is design conscious."
      
• "I'm inspired by classic fashion icons like a Chanel leather bag.  I've learned to abstract that for automotive interiors."
      
• "The boundaries between automotive design, fashion, and industrial design are blurred - there are so many influences to draw from.  The design community is small.  We intermingle, we feed off of each other, and we are all influenced by each other's work."
      
• "I look at how a person picks out a suit or a piece of furniture.  It reflects their personalities.  If a person has a certain style about them, they don't check it at their car door.  It carries from their office to their wardrobe to their briefcase to their cell phone or PDA, most definitely to their car."
      
• "I'm an anthropologist, a sociologist, psychologist and an artist."
       

Prozzi dressed the Flex interior for different target customers.  He used several elements of design -- hand craftsmanship, bright work, and textures -- to create personalities for the Flex series.

"Our entry-level Flex wears the classic Brooks Brothers' uniform," he said.  "The interior utilizes traditional blue broadcloth, khaki and tweed inserts.  It's very upscale, fashion conscious and understated.

"Another series will appeal to a more elegant sensibility.  It features very luxurious black leather similar to an expensive handbag.  Add to that burled wood inserts and this series would be very at home on the Upper East Side."

Prozzi said his work on Flex is indicative of Ford's commitment to interior design.

"Throughout the Ford product line our interiors are becoming best-in-class," he said.  "We're raising the bar in every area - quality, interesting design, technology, and exciting color and materials.  It's a great time to be a designer."

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