JOHANNESBURG, Oct 12, 2009 / — One in every 29 South African women will contract breast cancer, and this Breast Cancer Awareness Month you can support the Design for Life charity initiative by buying a limited-edition designer T-shirt.
This year super-hot South African designer David Tlale, who recently returned from a triumphant showing at New York Fashion Week, has donated his services to conceptualize a T-shirt for African Fashion International’s second annual Design for Life fundraiser.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and to highlight the prevalence of the most common cancer in women around the world, Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe and AFI are spearheading a campaign that employs fashion for a greater purpose.
The broad message is that breast cancer, if detected early enough, is curable – but women need to be educated in the early detection of lumps. At the same time awareness needs to be raised about cervical cancer, the commonest cancer amongst South African women, which can be prevented by having regular Pap smears and treating pre-cancerous cells.
“Breast cancer and cervical cancer education is important to curb unnecessary suffering and loss of life,” says Dr Moloi-Motsepe. “Every woman should take charge of their own health and should have access to information, screening and treatment.”
The Design for Life men’s and ladies’ T-shirts are available at R188 apiece, including VAT excluding postage. They are available in the following sizes: Ladies – small, medium, large, extra large; Men – medium, large, extra large.
All proceeds will be donated to three charities doing important work in the areas of education and medical treatment for breast cancer. One of these organizations is Cause Marketing Fundraisers (CMF), which runs a mobile breast cancer education unit and a mobile mammography unit.
These fully equipped mobile units, which were partially funded by the proceeds of last year’s inaugural Design for Life fundraiser, travel around the country, providing life-saving information and services to women in urban and rural communities.
Another NGO that will benefit from the Design for Life project is the Cancer Association of South Africa’s Soweto branch, which educates the community on cancer prevention and care, in addition to providing interim homes to cancer patients. The third charity is Reach for Recovery, which runs a comprehensive non-medical self-help programme created to help women with breast cancer.
For the T-shirt’s design, Tlale has used a simple, elegant and striking motif comprising the pink breast cancer ribbon interwoven with subtle floral elements.
There are only 900 limited-edition David Tlale Design for Life T-shirts available, so here is your chance to own an exclusive designer T-shirt and contribute to a worthy cause. Last year in the region of R50,000 was raised for breast cancer awareness projects, and this year AFI is hoping to vastly exceed that sum.
To place an order or make an enquiry, email info@africanfashioninternational.com, visit www.africanfashioninternational.com or phone 011 269 6960. T-shirts can also be collected from AFI’s Johannesburg offices.
