MJ DeCoteau is the Executive Director of Rethink Breast Cancer. She not only founded this youthful and inspiring charity but brought the Fashion Targets Breast Cancer campaign to Canada! Read on about how she got involved…
1994 US campaign featuring Claudia Schiffer
From the moment the Fashion Targets Breast Cancer t-shirt campaign launched back in 1994, it captured my imagination. The striking ads featuring the supermodels of the day –Linda, Cindy, Christy, Naomi, Kate and Claudia —were all over Vogue. I was 24 and my mom had died of breast cancer less than two years earlier. I wanted to show my support for the cause but wanted nothing to do with the kitschy pink ribbon apparel that was starting to take off. I needed that cool, smart-looking Fashion Targets t-shirt that Kate Moss was wearing! Through phone calls to friends and relatives in the States, I did get one.
2001 US campaign featuring Gisele Bundchen
A few years later, flipping through In Style, I was struck by another stunning Fashion Targets ad—a close up of Gisele with a Swarovski crystal target on her bare, bronzed shoulder. The ad had the url fashiontargetsbreastcancer.com in the bottom corner. We take links for granted now but this was pretty early days of the internet and websites. I was intrigued. I went to the website and read all about the history and expansion of the campaign, an initiative of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). I knew the Fashion Targets tees were in the States and UK but I had no idea there were versions available in half a dozen or more other countries around the world.
At the time, I had been working in the breast cancer field for a couple of years, mostly as a fundraiser; Rethink Breast Cancer was barely more than an idea. However, within seconds of visiting the website, I was leaving a passionate, rambling voicemail for the contact listed on the site saying we needed Fashion Targets in Canada! I babbled on just a bit too long in my message and hung up with that “they’re never gonna call” feeling…
2010 UK campaign featuring Kylie Minogue
They called back! After phone calls, meetings and negations with the CFDA, Rethink Breast Cancer obtained the rights to run the Fashion Targets Breast Cancer campaign in Canada. Now it’s been 10 fabulous years of working with leading Canadian retailers (yay Joe Fresh!), famous models and celebrities, fashion photographers, as well as media, advertising, and PR firms to raise public awareness and funds for Rethink’s breast cancer research, education and support for young women. A decade in, my heart still does a little jump when I see someone on the street in a Fashion Targets Breast Cancer t-shirt.
2011 Canadian campaign featuring Patti Hansen
I absolutely love the collection Joe Fresh has created for this year’s 10th Anniversary. My efforts to get one of the adorable limited edition sequin tees were reminiscent of that first tee I eagerly tracked down. Yesterday, I felt pretty in the peach tee at Mother’s Day festivities and today I’m wearing the orange one, which makes me feel happy and energetic. I’m heading outside and show it off now!
