Camilla and Marc has unveiled a five-year commitment to raising funds for ovarian cancer research as part of its 'Ovaries. Talk About Them' campaign.
Following the success of its inaugural 'Ovaries. Talk About Them' campaign in 2020 the brand is again launching the dedicated messaging, helping to raise much-needed funds to further develop an early detection test for ovarian cancer.
This year, the campaign comes backed with a firm five-year mission to support the cause, which will manifest with the debut of a new unisex line of limited-edition t-shirts and hoodies where 100% of sale proceeds will go directly to research.
Speaking on the campaign, creative director Camilla Freeman Topper said that the cause is one close to her family's heart.
"There is still no early diagnosis test for ovarian cancer almost 30 years after my mother’s death, largely due to a lack of awareness and funding which is just so hard to believe.
"Ovarian cancer is the deadliest female cancer and is in dire need of attention.
"Over 300,000 women worldwide die annually from the disease, often because of a late diagnosis and that’s simply not good enough.
"It’s so difficult because we all want to be preventative and get checked but there’s currently no way to do this.
"We are proud of what we have achieved to date, but there is much work to be done.
"In honour of our mother and all of those affected by this disease for 2021 we will launch a bold unisex campaign to get both women and men talking.
"If we can detect this disease early, it will be a game changer for women’s health," she said.
CEO Marc Freeman added that the business is proud to invite men to be a part of this year's campaign and conversation.
"The Camilla and Marc business is relentless in the pursuit of this initiative.
"This year we proudly invite men to stand in solidarity with women to create a bold and united force to support this cause that is in desperate need of awareness and funding," he said.
100% of proceeds from the sale of the tees and hoodies will go directly to Associate Professor Caroline Ford and her team at the Ovarian Cancer Research Group at UNSW Medicine.
Since the campaign's debut in 2020, Camilla and Marc has raised $225,000 to help to develop an early detection test and enable the UNSW Ovarian Cancer Research Group to employ two key female scientists to focus solely on this work.
"The injection of funds from the first successful year of the 'Ovaries. Talk About Them' campaign has allowed us to create a dedicated expert team of scientists focused on the development of an early detection test for ovarian cancer," Associate Professor Ford said.
"The funds from the campaign have significantly progressed the development of our early detection test.
"This funding has meant an increased focus and our outlook is extremely positive.
"In the last year the team have identified a set of DNA changes specific for ovarian cancer and have begun the process of testing these in the lab on cells from patients.
"Continued funding will mean trialling and testing in blood from diverse groups of women will happen more quickly which will help to maximise accuracy and move the test to clinical trials.
"We are hopeful that we could be just years away from an early detection test which would be ground-breaking for this disease," she said.
The campaign will also feature an array of famous faces including Caitlin Delaney, Malia Emberson, Sabrina Elba, Karl, Jasmine and Harper May Stefanovic, The Inspired Unemployed, Victoria Lee, Tim Robards and Phoebe Burgess.
The 2021 'Ovaries. Talk About Them' limited-edition t-shirt (available in black and white) and limited edition hoodie will be available at Camilla and Marc boutiques nationwide and on the Camilla and Marc website.
The pieces are on sale from today and retail for $110 for the tee and $200 for the hoodie.