Designers support health campaign with red dresses

The National Institute of Health and the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) took full advantage of the press received from New York City's "Seven on 6th" Fashion Week in order to promote their campaign against heart disease. Sally McDonough is the account director for Ogiby, who partnered with the NHLBI to get designers to donate at least one red dress to be on display at the Mercedes Benz fashion week. Out of all the designers, 19 donated dresses and Nicole Miller made one exclusively for the campaign. Designers such as Carolina Herrera, Ralph Lauren, and Bill Blass were just a few of the designers that donated a dress.\n"Heart disease is the number one killer of women in the U.S.," McDonough said. "Most people associate the disease with overweight balding men, but it is a threat to women, and a lot of people are uninformed."\nThe NHLBI is modeling their campaign after the pink ribbon campaign for breast cancer awareness. They are using a high profile event such as fashion week to jump-start the campaign and get the word out. The NHLBI coordinators also plan on using Angela Lindvall, a popular runway model, as the spokeswoman for the campaign. Most designers commit to sponsoring one issue every year, and McDonough says it wasn't hard contacting designers to sponsor this particular cause.\n"The outreach here is incredible," McDonough said. \nAlong with the red dress, the organization also wants people to wear a red pin designed specifically for the campaign. \n"We want the pin to become what the pink ribbon is for breast cancer," McDonough said.\nThe red dresses comprise an exhibit that will embark on a national tour starting in Washington, D.C.