Roberto Cavalli to Reinterpret the Legendary Playboy Bunny Costume NEW YORK, June 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Playboy Enterprises, Inc. today announced that renowned designer Roberto Cavalli has agreed to bring his artistry to the first reinterpretation of the iconic Playboy Bunny Costume in more than a quarter century. The innovative couturier was approached by Playboy to add his touch to the Playboy Bunny Costume, the first service uniform to be granted a trademark registration by the United States Patent Office, with an eye toward creating a striking new version for the highly anticipated Playboy venues at the new tower of the Palms Casino Resort & Spa, currently under construction at the Palms' property in Las Vegas. Roberto Cavalli is expected to reveal his concept later this year, which will likely be worn by select Playboy Bunnies alongside the traditional Bunny Costume. Developed and operated by the N9NE Group, the new Playboy venues are scheduled to open in early 2006. The Bunny Costume was introduced with the first Playboy Club in Chicago in 1960 and started as a modified one-piece swimsuit with the addition of collar, cuffs and the legendary rabbit ears and cottontail. The costume evolved incrementally and over time the leg cut became higher, a rosette with the Bunny's name was added and the fabrics and colors enhanced. With these modest changes, the Bunny costume has become a powerful symbol of the Playboy brand around the world. Over the years, the costume was worn by more than 25,000 Playboy Bunnies - including such celebrities as Lauren Hutton and Deborah Harry. The Bunny Costume sits in the permanent collections of both the Chicago Historical Society and The Smithsonian. Famous for "glam-rock" fashions and untamed creativity, Roberto Cavalli has been a star on the international fashion scene since the 1970's, enjoying a recent renaissance and being embraced by a new generation of celebrities and international jet-setters. In 2002, Roberto Cavalli was awarded Designer of the Year by the Fashion Group International. Roberto Cavalli's work was recently celebrated in the highly acclaimed "WILD: Fashion Untamed" exhibit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in New York in 2004 - a celebration of animal imagery in fashion - in which the traditional Playboy Bunny Costume was showcased. According to Playboy's Chairman and CEO Christie Hefner, "The Bunny Costume has undergone only modest changes over the years, so as to maintain its identity and special character. Roberto Cavalli is the perfect designer to reinterpret the magic of the original design as he too embraces the good-life, inspires an aspirational lifestyle for a jet-set crowd and of course celebrates beautiful women." The new tower of the Palms Casino Resort will also include a boutique casino and lounge, a nightclub, a retail store and a two-story Hugh Hefner sky villa. Playboy Enterprises, Inc. Playboy Enterprises is a brand-driven, international multimedia entertainment company that publishes editions of Playboy magazine around the world; operates Playboy and Spice television networks and distributes programming via home video and DVD globally; licenses the Playboy and Spice trademarks internationally for a range of consumer products and services; and operates Playboy.com, a leading men's lifestyle and entertainment Web site. Palms Casino Resort & Spa The Palms Casino Resort, heralded as one of Las Vegas' hippest resorts, offers guests a major destination get-away with a relaxing, affordable resort atmosphere. Owned by the Maloof family, the $265-million, 430-room property boasts a diverse mix of restaurants and bars and a 95,000-square-foot casino. This boutique resort also offers the Palms Spa and AMP salon, Brenden Theatres, a 14-theatre Cineplex and IMAX Theatre, Rain Las Vegas, ghostbar, Skin Pool Lounge, Hart and Huntington Tattoo Company and over 20,000 square- feet of meeting space. The resort is home to the Real World: Las Vegas and the Bravo Celebrity Poker Showdown. The Palms features the hottest specialty suites including the Playpens with a dancer pole, the Real World Suite as seen on MTV and NBA suites with extra-large furniture. E!, VH1, CSI and MTV feature the Palms on a regular basis and the Victoria's Secret Angels made the Palms a featured destination during their "Angels Across America" tour. The Palms Casino Resort is located just west of the Las Vegas Strip and I-15 on Flamingo Road. For room reservation information, call toll free at (866) PALMS-RES, (866) 725-6773, or visit http://www.palms.com/ . For groups of 10 rooms or more, contact the Sales Department at (866) PALMS-MTG or (866) 725-6768. N9NE Group Childhood friends since the age of nine - the inspiration behind their company's name - Morton (son of legendary Chicago restaurateur Arnie Morton, founder of the Morton's of Chicago steakhouse chain) and DeGraff partnered in 1992 to launch the nightclub Drink Chicago. They went on to open Drink Las Vegas in 1995 prior to opening Chicago's inaugural N9NE Steakhouse and ghostbar in 2000. With the 2001 opening of the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, they debuted their highly successful dining and entertainment venues in Las Vegas, which include N9NE Steakhouse, Rain Las Vegas, ghostbar, and Skin Pool Lounge. Additional N9NE Group venues will be featured in the new tower of the Palms Casino Resort, as well as in the upcoming Victory Project in Dallas, TX, both scheduled to open in 2006. DATASOURCE: Playboy Enterprises, Inc. CONTACT: Jay Jay Nesheim of Playboy Enterprises, Inc., +1-212-261-4933, Web site: http://www.palms.com/

Copyright