Julia Roberts designs Armani T-shirt for AIDS fight
MILAN (Reuters Life!) - Julia Roberts has returned to work with Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani to raise money for the fight against AIDS in Africa, designing a T-shirt to be sold under the "Red" label.
The Academy Award-winning actress has drawn the symbolic tree of life with the words "revolution.evolution.devotion" arching over its foliage.
The words are behind the acronym for "Red", the name of a product-branding alliance to raise money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Under the scheme -- the brain-child of U2 rock star Bono and Bobby Shriver, the nephew of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy -- manufacturers channel a portion of the profits from "Red"-branded goods to the fund.
Money raised from events and product sales tied to the label have raised more than $110 million since it began in 2006, according to a statement from Giorgio Armani.
The T-shirt designed by Roberts will go on sale in September both online and at Emporio Armani stores worldwide, a spokeswoman for the fashion designer said.
Available for men and women, the T-shirt will also have her signature inside.
It is the second time that Roberts has worked with Armani for the "Red" label. The first time saw her use the same idea of the tree for a leather bracelet.
Armani also sells clothing, accessories, eyewear, watches, fragrances and jewellery under the "Red" label, offering 40 percent of the gross profit margin on sales to the fund.
(Reporting by Gilles Castonguay; Editing by Matthew Jones)
