by Marion Garcia

Created on: December 06, 2009   Last Updated: December 10, 2009

Is Red dress the new Pink ribbon?

Heart attacks are the number one causes of deaths among women, regardless of race or ethnicity. Although, common among all races, it is more prominent among African, Latin, Indian, and Asian women. One in four women die from heart attacks, that's about one third of women who have heart attacks.

In 2000, it was noted that only 34% of women were aware of the risks of heart attacks among women. In 2001, the NHLB, leaders of Women's Health (OHW), and the Federal Government began a workshop to devise a campaign to bring awareness women. In October 2001, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide was hired to create a marketing strategy. September 2002, the Red Dress and The Heart Truth campaign was launched. Ribbons have always been used as symbols, the pink ribbon symbolizes cancer, the red ribbon symbolizes aids prevention, the red dress symbolizes heart disease for women.

The concept of the red dress was to associate heart attacks with women, to show that it is not just a mans disease. The symbol is to show that a woman should be concerned about whats inside (basically her heart), not just what's on the outside. In essence, Heart disease doesn't care what you wear. The color red represents power to take control of their health, and a reminder of the passion of all those that have been affected.

In 2002, leading fashion designers were asked to participate in a campaign to bring more awareness that would appeal to women. In February, 2002 the Mercedes Benz fashion week was created when nineteen fashion designers designed 26 red dresses of various designs and sizes. The different styles and sizes were to bring about the awareness that heart disease is not selective in size or race. Among these designers were, Oscar DE la Renta, Ralph Lauren, Donna Koran, and Vera Wang.

A red dress pin was created by a leading jewelry designer and distributed among the media and public to gain more awareness of the symbol. The run way show has continued every year since, with celebrities such as Sheryl Crow, Kelly Ripa, Venus Williams, Angela Bassett, Rachael Ray, Christie Brinkley, Duchess of York Sara Ferguson , and many more.

National Wear Red Day, was created in 2003 and is now celebrated on the first Friday of February every year. February is national heart month.

Laura Bush appeared on major television morning shows discussing women and heart disease, thus giving her the title as the campaign ambassador. She held a First Lady's fashion collection displaying

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>