On the wet and chilly morning of February 1, Grey’s Anatomy star Sara Ramirez joined Cane’s Rita Moreno and Ugly Betty’s Ana Ortiz as a volunteer celebrity model in the 6 th annual Red Dress Fashion Show, presented by the Heart Truth, a government-run national campaign promoting women’s heart health.
The message was clear: a rainy morning wasn’t going to spoil the good time to be had on the first day of New York’s 2008 Fashion Week. The celebrities and their fans were all sunshine and smiles during fashion week’s first show.
The “who’s who” of fashion, and VIPs including First Lady Laura Bush and Sesame Street’s Sonia Manzano, gathered “under the tent” in New York’s Bryant Park – the fashion industry’s place to be – to watch Sara and more than a dozen of her fellow celeb volunteers strut down the catwalk in the name of good heart health. Each wore a red dress customized by a top notch design team to fit their personalities and curvaceous bodies.
Unlike most fashion shows which focus on size-zero models and tomorrow’s trends, this show was all heart. Literally. Not only was the theme of the event healthy hearts, each song played had “heart” lyrics, and all audience members were encouraged to wear heart healthy pins, provided in the red cloth goody bags.
To set the tone (and remind everyone of the theme), Laura Bush took to the stage to introduce the Washington-produced show to the jet-setter crowd. She explained that a red dress fashion show is the best way to get everyone’s attention because “nothing gets noticed like a little red dress.” (Oddly, the First Lady was one of the few women in the venue not wearing red.)
In addition to Sara Ramirez, who donned a red dress by designer Angel Sanchez, the Fashion Show also included actress Cheryl Hines, model Heidi Klum, actress Jenna Fischer, singer Joss Stone, reality star Lisa Rinna, and entertainment reporter Maria Menounos. Singer Liza Menelli made a cameo appearance, and added a surprise performance of “New York, New York.” As the crowd stood up to applaud, Minelli was joined by Sara and all of the VIP volunteer models. The crowd clapped louder.
“I am just delighted that for the sixth year on National Wear Red Day, the fashion and entertainment industries will join forces on behalf of The Heart Truth to share an urgent message to American women about heart health,” Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., director of NHLBI, said before the show. “Although we’ve helped to dramatically increase awareness among women that heart disease is their leading cause of death, our mission remains to educate women about the seriousness of heart disease and inspire them to take action to reduce their risk.”
Thanks to the volunteer models and designers, the Red Dress is fast becoming one of the most recognizable health symbols in the United States. According to NIH research, about half of women in America recognize the Red Dress as the national symbol for women and heart disease and about half of women are aware that heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women.
Although the Fashion Show, and all of its glitz and glamour, only comes around once a year, the Heart Truth campaign works year round spreading the word that heart disease is largely preventable. CATALINA is proud to be the first Hispanic media outlet to join the Heart Truth movement. The magazine has been a proud partner since 2004.
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See the video of Sara Ramirez walking the catwalk on CATALINA TV.
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For more information on Latinas and heart disease, visit www.hearttruth.gov.
