THANKS to fashion mogul Peter Nygård, thousands of women undergoing mammograms will be dressed fashionably and no longer exposing their behinds.
NYGÅRD’s company has designed, fabricated and donated 1,500 gowns worth $90,000 to CancerCare Manitoba.
The gowns will be worn by women in Winnipeg and at 16 community cancer program sites around the province when they go for a mammogram.
The gowns were debuted Friday night at a special fall fashion premiere held at the NYGÅRD store on Inkster Boulevard. NYGÅRD spokeswoman Sharon Clarke said the company first donated gowns several years ago, but they had reached the end of their life.
“They were worn out,” Clarke said. “They asked us if we could make more, and we did.”
Clarke said the pastel fabric the company uses is extremely soft and was ordered specifically for the gowns from a textile producer in the Orient.
She said the gowns were designed to be seamless so rough seams would not rub on the body, and they tie at the front instead of the back to avoid unnecessary exposure.
“We get many positive letters from women who have gone through the clinic and are thankful to use the gowns,” Clarke said.
In a statement, company founder and chairman Nygård said, “we are proud of our long-term association with Cancer-Care Manitoba and to know that we are helping Manitoba women in the fight against breast cancer.”
“It’s really fabulous,” Annitta Stenning, CancerCare Manitoba Foundation’s executive director, said of the donation.
“When I first was asked how many gowns we wanted, I took a very deep breath because I knew it was going to be a big request, but we have a huge need. “We’d never be able to afford something like this.”
Stenning said it is important for women age 50 and over to get annual screenings, so anything that makes them more comfortable is essential.
“Psychologically, it takes one more piece of being uncomfortable away,” she said.
Stenning said one size is pink-coloured and another is mint.
More than 900 Manitoba women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year and more than 200 women die of the disease.
About 80 per cent of breast cancers occur in women over the age of 50, but when women between 50 and 69 are screened, the risk of dying drops by 24 per cent.
The breast screening program performs more than 50,000 mammograms each year.
By Kevin Rollason
