Celebrities are using their fame and influence to help shine a spotlight on the AIDS pandemic in Africa, most recently Russell Simmons, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and former President Bill Clinton.

	Dakota Fanning strikes a mature pose as one of the celebrity models featured in GAP ads for African AIDS programs. Click photo for larger image.

Now, GAP and (Product) Red have teamed up for a line of apparel to benefit the cause. The red items, which range in price from $28 to $350, include a T-shirt, tank top, leather jacket, denim jacket, parka and hoodie.

Ads feature eight celebrity models, from Penelope Cruz, Christy Turlington, Dakota Fanning and Mary J. Blige to Don Cheadle, Steven Spielberg, Chris Rock and Apolo Ohno.

Half the profits will go directly to a global fund to invest in African AIDS programs. The campaign is also helping to create business opportunities in Africa, as part of the collection is being made on the continent.

Another designer showcased at Target

Behnaz Sarafpour is the latest big-name fashion designer to create a lower-priced, limited-edition collection for Target's GO International line.

New York designer Behnaz Sarafpour's collection for Target includes a leopard faux fur jacket ($89.99), a black short-sleeve sweater ($19.99), lace patch skinny black denim jeans ($34.99) and a black cluth purse adorned with a rose ($16.99). Click photo for larger image.

The 42 daywear and sportswear pieces will be available in Target stores and at Target.com in November and December. Prices range from $16.99 for a green T-shirt covered with black lace to $89.99 for cropped jackets in black patent leather , leopard faux fur and black Persian lamb.

The collection also includes accessories such as jewelry, handbags, gloves and stone-encrusted headbands.

Sarafpour launched her own brand in 2001 after toiling behind the scenes for Narciso Rodriguez, Richard Tyler, Isaac Mizrahi. She's a graduate of Parsons School of Design, where she won the prestigious Golden Thimble Award.

PNB Nation returns

The '80s have been a popular source of fashion inspiration since last year, and entertainer Nick Cannon is bringing back more retro chic with the re-launch of one of the first urban clothing brands, PNB Nation.

Cannon is the new spokesperson and creative director for the line, which was established in the '80s and disappeared four years ago. The revived company is a joint venture between Cannon and twins Jon and Marvin Gurman of the New York-based America Dream Team Network.

The PNB Nation flagship store opened Tuesday on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles with a black-carpet celebration. The store carries a limited quantity of the fall-winter collection, with hats, knit tops and bottoms and premium denim pieces ranging from $250 to $1,000.

Not your normal fashion retail place, the store will be an exclusive club where "members" will have a black card that provides them access to an entertainment area with stuff like a bar, plasma TVs and a deejay booth.

For the rest of us, a few specialty stores elsewhere n the United States will get small quantities of the line beginning with the spring-summer 2007 collection.

Draw on your talent

If you love fashion and can sketch a hot design, there's a new contest to enter.

Draw the best outfit for one of Noxzema's three new cartoon girls and you'll win a trip for two to attend New York Fashion Week in September and spend a day shadowing an editor at a national fashion magazine.

To enter, visit Noxzema.com and read up on Noxzema girls Brigid, Zoe and Monique. Design an outfit for one of them and submit it online or by mail. A panel of judges will choose their favorite entries, which will be posted on the Web site. Public voting will determine the winner.

Contest deadline is Jan. 5; a grand-prize, first-place and second-place winners will be announced in March.