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Like the coronavirus, a cancer diagnosis is also a life-changing experience. Ask Nathan Adrian, Elizabeth Lorde-Rollins, and Maya Rockeymoore Cummings.
The Olympic gold medalist, LGBTQ advocate and doctor, and politician have all been personally touched by cancer and are just three of the faces in Ralph Lauren’s Pink Pony initiative 20th anniversary campaign. They, along with nearly 30 other people, are featured in the “More Conversations, More Love” campaign that begins today.
The cast of cancer survivors and supporters share their stories in hopes of starting a dialogue about healing, hope, survival, and love.
“When someone we love has cancer, we are all affected: husbands, wives, mothers and fathers, sisters, brothers and friends. This is our effort in the fight against cancer, “said Ralph Lauren.
The fashion company was at the forefront in the fight against the disease when it established the Pink Pony campaign in 2000 to reduce disparities in cancer care, participate in the effort to find a cure, and help ensure that access to treatment quality is available to everyone at an earlier and more treatable stage.
The company first became involved in 1989, after the designer’s friend and Washington Post fashion editor, Nina Hyde, was diagnosed with breast cancer. That led to the co-founding of the Nina Hyde Center for Breast Cancer Research at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.
In 1994, Lauren designed the first target logo for the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s Fashion Targets Breast Cancer initiative. In 2003, the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care was established in association with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, and in 2014, the company partnered with The Royal Marsden, the largest and most comprehensive cancer center in Europe, to develop a breast cancer research center, which opened two years later. Last year the company pledged £ 1 million to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity to establish a research zone within a state-of-the-art facility opening in Sutton, UK.
David Lauren, vice chairman of the board, chief brand officer and chief innovation officer, said the company is proud to have pioneered the fight against cancer. “We were the first to connect our logo to a cause and help customers feel like they were doing something good by buying the product,” he said.
Although the corporation has since expanded into other causes as well, its commitment to cancer research and treatment has never wavered. “It has become part of the culture of our company,” said David Lauren. “By the time it was in, we were already there.”
This year, due to the pandemic, the corporation has had to change its marketing plans for Pink Pony. “We thought we would be taking a walk through Central Park like we always do. We thought we would have a great concert, ”he said. But the focus instead turned on the campaign.
So instead of simply offering facts and figures to patients and their loved ones, the company opted to work with the larger cast on a video series and podcast where the standouts spoke about their survival strategies and how to stay optimistic. in light of a cancer diagnosis.
One of them is Adrian, the swimmer who has won five Olympic gold medals and eight overall. He revealed last year that he had been diagnosed with testicular cancer at the age of 30. “So far, so good. I am still on the active surveillance protocol for the winter, then I will be considered cancer free and my chance of recurrence will return to normal, ”he said from his home in Oakland, California, where he is coping with the pandemic. .
Nathan Adrian was diagnosed with testicular cancer last year.
But while Adrian is back in the pool training for the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics, his cancer diagnosis is never far from his mind.
“You go from focusing on hyper-performance to knowing your health is in jeopardy,” he said. “You change gears quickly.”
Unlike many other men who might have kept his diagnosis a secret, Adrian was comfortable going public with his battle. “I went public because I found out early,” he said. He said that when he felt something on his testicle that was a little hard and slightly swollen, he didn’t treat it right away because there was no pain. But his mother, a school nurse, had taught him early to check anything suspicious. So when the lump was still there a week later, he went to the doctor, causing a “cascade of events – the ball rolls very fast,” he said.
He is well aware of the “great stigma” surrounding men and their testicles, which many equate with masculinity. “But that’s a misnomer,” he said. “Without your health, you can’t be masculine, so let’s be manly and talk about it.”
Adrian, who majored in public health at university, said that if your willingness to speak out about your experience saves just one life, it will be worth it. He receives multiple messages on Instagram from other people who have been touched by his story, he said. “And nothing feels better.”
His early diagnosis and successful treatment also allow Adrian to focus once again on his goal of swimming the 50 and 100 meter races in Tokyo next summer. “That’s my bread and butter and I won’t change a thing,” he said. And while the news of the postponement was just one more blow, he handled it similarly to his cancer diagnosis. “As you get older, you know yourself and you know what motivates you,” he said. “The right thing for me was to take a week off, walk around, play Frisbee, let the emotions reset and develop from there.”
But Adrian is not the only one who has been affected by cancer. Lorde-Rollins said her mother, black lesbian writer and feminist Audre Lorde, died of the disease at age 44, a breast cancer that had metastasized to her liver.
“My mother was diagnosed when I was 15 and passed away when I was in my last year of medical school,” Lorde-Rollins said. “Half of my life was marked by the fear of losing my mother.”
Elizabeth Lorde-Rollins had breast cancer when she was 39 years old.
Then she herself was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 39, enduring surgery, eight months of chemotherapy and radiation.
Although that was more than 15 years ago, Lorde-Rollins said that, as a cancer survivor, “you’re always waiting for the next shoe to drop.” She joked that even something as simple as a knock on the knuckle of a finger can cause panic. “And being a doctor doesn’t isolate you,” she said.
In addition to her advocacy for the LGBTQ community, Lorde-Rollins has been involved in the cancer community for years. She served as a grant proposal reviewer for the Susan B. Komen Foundation, which made it possible for low-income women to get mammograms and other care. And the Pink Pony initiative has had a similar impact, which is why Lorde-Rollins was happy to be a part of the campaign and help spread the word.
Former Maryland Governor and Congressional candidate Rockeymoore Cummings saw her mother die of breast cancer and her sister was diagnosed before she made the decision to undergo a preventive double mastectomy last fall. At the time, she was running for her late husband’s seat in Congress and prevailing wisdom said she should focus on the campaign rather than the surgery.
Maya Rockeymoore Cummings opted for a double mastectomy due to her family history.
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“But I felt like I had two time bombs on my chest and I knew it was next,” he said. Although he was unable to win the election, he said he does not regret his decision or the timing.
“I saw my own mother’s death up close and personal,” he said. “Breast cancer is not a joke. So to have a chance to prevent and cure it, we have to stay focused. “
That is especially true for black women, who die of breast cancer at a much higher rate. So as an African American, she is happy to help spread the word about health disparity in hopes of helping other black women with education and treatment.
Like the campaign, the 2020 Pink Pony clothing collection has also been expanded this year. Includes a larger assortment with updated graphics and details in a palette of pink, navy, white and gray. The anchor piece is a “Love Language” T which is available in 20 different languages. One hundred percent of the purchase price from the sale of each light pink “Live Love” T-chart and 25 percent of the purchase price from the sale of all other Pink Pony collection items will be donated to the Pink Pony Fund by The Ralph. Lauren Corporate Foundation or an international network of cancer charities.
The collection will be available globally at select Ralph Lauren retail stores, on the brand’s e-commerce site, at Macy’s and at other select retail stores.
And for the first time, the collection will include a fragrance: Romance Pink Pony Edition. With each purchase of the fragrance, Ralph Lauren Fragrances will donate 100 percent of the proceeds to the Pink Pony Fund.
Ralph Lauren Fragrances will also partner with Lewis Miller Design florist Lewis Miller to create fragrance-inspired “Flower Flash” installations on the streets of New York throughout the month of October.
Due to the fragrance and the expanded distribution of the product, David Lauren believes that this 20th anniversary initiative will have an even greater impact this year. “Products related to the cause are working very well right now,” he said, adding that cancer patients face many of the same challenges as those battling the coronavirus. “They can be vocal advocates for how to survive the pandemic,” he said.
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