Childhood Cancer Survivors Take The Runway At Bloomingdale’s This Saturday, And You Can Be There With Them
Nothing is more devastating than a diagnosis of pediatric cancer. Conversely, nothing is as uplifting and empowering as watching 20 young models, all of whom are cancer survivors or kids who have raised money for a cure, on the runway for a special fashion show at Bloomingdale’s.
The runway show takes place this Saturday, September 21 at Bloomingdale’s flagship Manhattan location at 59th St., in their BKids on five departments. The show features the award-winning designs of Sally Miller, whose clothes can be found at Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and Saks. Miller is donating her clothing and her time — you can “shop with Sally” from 2–4 p.m. after the runway show, to support Solving Kids’ Cancer.
“The magic word is ‘empowering,’” Miller says. “We’ve all been to fashion shows, but nothing touches your heart like watching young cancer survivors and their supporters taking their turn on the catwalk.”
The girls who will be gracing “Sally Miller’s Catwalk of Courage” are between 8 and 14 years old. Many of them sport short haircuts, due to their cancer treatments, a “look” of which Miller happily approves.
“We all know why they lost their hair,” Miller says. “But I think short hair is modern, amazing, fabulous. They look great and they feel great, and they make everyone else feel great, too.”
Solving Kids’ Cancer, or SKC, was founded a dozen years ago by two New York City fathers, John London, and Scott Kennedy, who each lost a child to pediatric cancer. The organization focuses on the three deadliest childhood cancers — neuroblastoma, brain tumors, and sarcomas.
“These are the worst of the worst forms of pediatric cancers,” Miller says. “If we can make headway with these, we are saving lives.”
SKC is not connected to any specific institution or group of researchers. Instead, the organization supports the most promising research internationally, helping researchers across borders find treatments and cures.
Clinical trial work supported by SKC can be founded in over 117 institutions in 15 countries across the planet. Meanwhile, back at Bloomingdale’s, the fashion show is only the beginning. There are mocktails for the kids, cocktails for the grown-ups, and giveaways from sponsors Converse and Melissa’s Cupcakes.
“43 children are diagnosed with cancer in the United States every single day,” Miller says. “It breaks your heart. That’s the equivalent of two classrooms full of kids, every day.”
“It’s not just empowering for the kids who will be modeling,” she adds. “It’s empowering for everyone in attendance, for myself, for the spectators, for the sponsors.”
“Just to be in the room with kids who are so brave touches your heart. We’re hoping to raise a lot of money and create a lot of awareness for SKC.”
The event is open to the general public, as is the “shopping with Sally” opportunity which follows. It’s not every day that you get to meet a fashion icon like Sally Miller while at the same time supporting an extraordinarily important cause.
So if you’re anywhere in the New York area this weekend, make it your business to scoot over to Bloomingdale’s and support the kids as they hit the runway in Sally Miller’s latest creations.
They’ll feel empowered, and so will you, because empowerment, unlike Lexington and Third Avenues, which bracket Bloomingdale’s, empowerment is a two-way street.
