Santo Domingo.– Venezuelan designer Carolina Herrera waved to the audience at the end of her show during the Dominicana Moda fashion week in Santo Domingo, where she presented her collection "Fashion for Help 2009."

Herrera's involvement in the event also included a gala benefit dinner to collect funds for the program “Hoy es el mejor dia” (Today is the Best Day), a cause directed by the First Lady of the Dominican Republic, Margarita Cedeno de Fernandez, who was appointed Good Will Ambassador to the United Nations this year.

The designers attending this edition represented Barbados, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago, as well as designs from designs from Spain, Chile and Colombia.

Arlenis Sosa Pena, the Dominican “top model” ranked 24th in the world, who has modeled for a large number of leading cosmetic companies and international designers, was the official face of DM09. Other Dominican international top models were also seen on the catwalks, such as Austria Alcantara, Avril Guerrero and Rene Rodriguez, along with a dozen Haitian models.