Stella McCartney Cares Foundation: British designer announces launch of breast cancer charity

A cast of women have revealed their mastectomy scars to celebrate the launch

Sarah Young
Monday 22 October 2018 12:13 BST
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Idris Elba supports Stella McCartney breast cancer awareness campaign

British designer Stella McCartney has announced the launch of the Stella McCartney Cares Foundation – a charity dedicated to the prevention, early detection and treatment of breast cancer.

The cause has been close to McCartney’s heart since 1998 when she lost her mother, Linda McCartney, to the diseas. The designer has contributed to breast cancer awareness since 2014 with a series of campaigns.

Via her new foundation, the designer hopes to make a more comprehensive contribution to breast cancer care, with focus on patients as well as survivors and their loved ones.

“I am so proud and excited to say that I am launching the Stella McCartney Cares Foundation,” McCartney says.

“In so many cultures, there’s so much stigma attached to breast cancer and I think through this campaign that I’ve really found out that the community is so critical and it’s so important.”

The charity’s first initiative will be the donation of 1,000 of the brand’s Louis Listening post-operative mastectomy compression bras to women undergoing breast cancer treatment. You can put in a request for the bra here.

Stylish and beautiful, each bra is made from super-soft cotton and delicate lace with a practical front zip fastening that allows for ease and reduces discomfort.

It also features a wide underband and deep sides that offer support without underwire.

“The reason I designed them really was my experience of seeing somebody that I loved go through such a traumatising operation,” McCartney explains.

“I found that the mastectomy bras available at the time were just another moment where they lost their femininity and they lost a sense of who they were as a woman.

“And so I wanted to create a product that was still beautiful and still feminine and still celebrating the person that’s going through this terrible moment.”

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To celebrate the launch of the foundation, McCartney has also released a cinematic short film called “All is Love.”

Narrated by Idris Elba, who recites an emotive poem by Kai Isia Jamal, the video features a cast of women revealing their mastectomy scars and hopes to encourage both men and women to speak more openly about breast cancer.

More details from the Stella McCartney Foundation will be available from November 2018.

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