NEW YORK, July 30 /PRNewswire/ --

- With Photo

- Benefit T-Shirt Design By Karl Lagerfeld

- A Women's Cancer Initiative in Partnership with the Entertainment Industry Foundation's Women's Cancer Research Fund

Saks Fifth Avenue and the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) announced today that Academy Award(R) winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow has been named the Entertainment Industry Foundation ambassador for Saks Fifth Avenue's 2008 KEY TO THE CURE campaign. KEY TO THE CURE is a women's cancer initiative founded in partnership with EIF's Women's Cancer Research Fund. The program will also receive ongoing support from Mercedes-Benz USA.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080730/NYW052)

Celebrated designer Karl Lagerfeld created a limited edition t-shirt that will retail for US$40 (over US$35 to charity), exclusively to benefit KEY TO THE CURE. It will debut at Saks Fifth Avenue October 1.

Saks Fifth Avenue's charity shopping weekend will take place October 16 to 19 at all of its stores nationwide and through saks.com, during which 2% of sales will benefit local organizations through EIF's Women's Cancer Research Fund. In support of this program, Ms. Paltrow will appear in a national public service announcement (PSA) wearing the Karl Lagerfeld limited edition t-shirt.

In the 10 years since the inception of the Saks Fifth Avenue charity shopping event, the company, together with its vendors and partners, has raised more than US$28 million. The money raised through Saks Fifth Avenue's 2008 KEY TO THE CURE will build on this success through EIF's Women's Cancer Research Fund, benefiting more than 50 charitable programs dedicated to finding new detection methods, better treatments and eventual cures for women's cancers.

"KEY TO THE CURE is one of Saks Fifth Avenue's most important initiatives because of the numbers of people within our communities who are affected by cancer and depend on both the advancement of research and the efforts to ultimately find a cure," said Steve Sadove, Chairman and CEO, Saks Fifth Avenue. "We are so proud to have hosted this shopping weekend for the past nine years and are truly privileged to have the support of Karl Lagerfeld and Gwyneth Paltrow in our momentous 10th anniversary year."

Renowned photographer Julian Broad generously donated his time to photograph Ms. Paltrow for the campaign. Mr. Broad is an acclaimed photographer who, in over 20 years of freelancing, has worked on prestigious advertising campaigns and published editorial work in distinguished magazines such as Vanity Fair and Harper's Bazaar. He has also photographed a wide range of celebrities, including Naomi Watts and Viggo Mortensen. The KEY TO THE CURE PSA will appear in major fashion and lifestyle magazines in September and October.

For the sixth consecutive year, Mercedes-Benz USA is proud to partner with the EIF Women's Cancer Research Fund and Saks Fifth Avenue in KEY TO THE CURE. Mercedes-Benz USA has raised funds for women's cancer research through sales of an exclusive special edition vehicle, and for this year's campaign, Mercedes-Benz will offer the special edition version of its 2009 S550 Sedan. An icon that represents the best in automotive design, performance, luxury and safety, this Special Edition S550 Sedan features exclusive Diamond White metallic exterior paint, Sahara Beige and black interior, 20-inch AMG 5-spoke wheels with high-performance tires, and a 5.5-liter, 382-horsepower V-8 engine which rockets this sedan from 0-60 mph in only 5.4 seconds.

As elegant as it is powerful, the new Special Edition S550 Sedan will be offered at Mercedes-Benz dealerships this September and will help raise funds for new cancer treatments as well as education and prevention. Mercedes-Benz USA expects to raise US$1 million this year for KEY TO THE CURE through sales of only 1,000 special edition vehicles, bringing the total amount raised by Mercedes-Benz USA for women's cancer research to over US$6 million.

To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of KEY TO THE CURE and give a voice to those the campaign supports, Saks Fifth Avenue, EIF and Mercedes-Benz USA will co-sponsor a road trip, during which blogger Lori Raimondo will travel in the special edition Mercedes-Benz to eleven Saks Fifth Avenue stores. Lori will begin the journey in San Francisco and make stops in Beverly Hills, Phoenix, Dallas, New Orleans, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Chicago, Chevy Chase, Boston and New York. The Saks Fifth Avenue store in each city will host Lori and introduce her to local businesses, media and community partners, including cancer survivors who support the KEY TO THE CURE initiative. Lori will blog about her trip on www.saks.com/kttc, where readers can share their personal stories.

Saks Fifth Avenue initiated its shopping weekend in 1999. Since then, the company has donated over US$28 million to women's cancer research and treatment organizations throughout the United States. Organizations benefiting from these funds include: EIF's Women's Cancer Research Fund, The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the Cleveland Clinic, Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Nevada Cancer Institute and many others.

The Women's Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, was established by Chairs Rita Wilson, Tom Hanks, Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg, along with Founders Kelly Chapman Meyer, Anne Douglas, Quinn Ezralow, Marion Laurie and Jamie Tisch. WCRF supports innovative research, education and outreach directed at the development of more effective approaches to the early diagnosis, treatment and prevention of all women's cancers.

As a philanthropic leader in the entertainment industry, the Entertainment Industry Foundation has distributed hundreds of millions of dollars and provided countless volunteer hours to support charitable initiatives addressing some of the most critical issues facing society today. For more information, visit www.eifoundation.org.

Saks Fifth Avenue, one of the world's pre-eminent specialty retailers, is renowned for its superlative American and international designer collections, its expertly edited assortment of handbags, shoes, jewelry, cosmetics and home furnishings and the first-rate fashion expertise and exemplary client service of its Associates. Today, Saks operates 53 full-line stores in 25 states, 3 licensed stores in the Middle East and 1 licensed store in Mexico City, 48 Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH stores and saks.com, the company's online store.

Note to Editors:

A picture accompanying this release is available through the PA Photowire. It can be downloaded from http://www.pa-mediapoint.press.net or viewed at http://www.mediapoint.press.net or http://www.prnewswire.co.uk.

Web site: http://www.saks.com http://www.eifoundation.org

Lesley Langsam Kennedy of Saks Fifth Avenue, +1-212-451-3799, lesley_langsam@s5a.com; or Maurine Slutzky of Entertainment Industry Foundation, +1-213-240-3923, mslutzky@EIFoundation.org / Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080730/NYW052, AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org, AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN3, PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com