Breast cancer survivors turn showstoppers

Breast cancer survivors Marry Ann D’Achille and Ozlem turned showstoppers for Premal Badiani during her show at the New York Fashion Week (NYFW). The Indian designer paid tribute to real life fighters and survivors through her collection.

Her collection titled Valentia that means brave in Latin, was feminine and sexy, encouraging women especially the breast cancer fighters and survivors to embrace their womanhood with boldness, confidence and a touch of sensuality.

"I wanted to force people to re imagine the disease that is supposed to make a woman feel unattractive and lose her womanhood. My aim with this collection was to showcase the breast cancer fighters and survivors as any other woman - strong, sexy and sensuous while they took each step on the runway," the designer said.

The unconventional hand embroidery on each silhouette gave the collection a slightly mythical look that further enhanced the femininity. The colour palette with the hues of pink mixed with grey and green was carefully chosen to highlight breast cancer awareness, staying true to the brand's philosophy of being one truly with heart and soul.

Badiani complemented her collection with exclusively designed, beautiful hand crafted floral and elk horn headpieces that symbolised strength, the fighter spirit yet being feminine and gorgeous.

D'Achille commented on walking the ramp, "My biggest excitement is serving the American Cancer Society and serving the designer and being introduced to her beautiful designs. I love the influence of her ideas."

Ozlem added, "Having the opportunity to walk the runway for Premal Badiani is an honour for me. It's a reflection of the support that I've received and as a result of that the courage and strength it has provided me to be able to now be a breast cancer survivor."

"We decided to come onboard with Premal Badiani as we strongly believe in the cause and have always been a huge fan and supporter of everything that Premal does in and outside of fashion. We have always been a proponent of cancer awareness and we are happy to associate with a cause on this scale," Belsi's founder, Riddhi Fazal said.