by Isi Esene

On Sunday November 25 at the Oriental Hotel Lagos, the ongoing fight against breast and cervical cancer will receive an added boost with Fashion Fantasia! An initiative of Leading Ladies and now in its second season, Fashion Fantasia! is essentially a benefit fashion show and fundraiser aimed at creating awareness for breast and cervical cancer.

The first edition of the show which took place last year on December 23 at the Four Points Hotel Oniru, was able to raise funds to get 300 women screened for breast and cervical cancer free of charge. This year, the event is themed #EachOneCheckOne – emphasizing the need for women (and men) to go for constant checks and get screened regularly.

Speaking on the event, Project Visionary Francesca Uriri said “Cancer is on the rise globally, there is no more efficient way to fight it, than to prevent its spread. This is essentially why we’re using fashion as a platform to ensure that women realize just how important it is to get their monthly checks done. Early detection of any type of cancer helps increase the rate of survival; and this is one of the key things we hope to re-iterate with this event.”

Commenting further, she said “The fight against cancer is crippled by many factors, primary amongst them, information. Women usually don’t know how to do a simple breast examination; they don’t know where to get their HPV vaccines to prevent cervical cancer and sometimes, can’t afford relatively inexpensive procedures like breast and cervical cancer screening. This year asides for raising funds for women to be screened free of charge, we will also be raising funds to assist two women who already have cancer, and are financially unable to pay for their medication.”

In conjunction with Bloom Cancer Care, one of the event partners, there will also be a live presentation and an interactive session that provides relevant and useful information on breast and cervical cancer.

Fashion Fantasia! will be an evening of fun, information, fashion and inspiration – featuring exciting and breathtaking designs from some of Nigeria’s brightest young designers like Wana Sambo, Tae, Isi Atagamen’s IAFL and a host of others. There will also be exciting musical performances.

Fashion Fantasia! is proudly supported by Y!, Bella Naija, TNC and Olori Supergal

Fashion Fantasia! is an initiative of Leading Ladies Nigeria; an organization positioned at the forefront of assisting women particularly those in Sub-Saharan Africa achieve their set goals and dreams in life.