LG Fashion Week shows love for women’s heart health

This spring’s showing of Toronto’s LG Fashion week marked the event’s 10th anniversary. This season’s title theme was ‘Show Love,’ and was all about celebrating Canadian fashion designers, the art of fashion, and women in general. One of the stand-out shows of the week, The Heart Truth Fashion show, did just that, and then some.

Put on by the Heart & Stroke Foundation, this hot-ticket, invite-only event sought to raise awareness about the risk of heart disease and stroke for women. The event showcased a collection of red dresses, the foundation’s iconic symbol, as interpreted by some of Canada’s top fashion designers, and worn by some of Canada’s top female celebrities.

Among those strutting and dancing their way down the runway were actress Tara Spencer-Nairn (in a dress designed by Damzels in this Dress), TV & radio host Marilyn Denis (in Farley Chatto), Canadian Idol judge Sass Jordon (in Pink Tartan), comedienne Jessica Holmes (in Joeffer Caoc), singer Amy Sky (in Freda’s), and hockey star Cassie Campbell (in Fashion Crimes). My favourite dress of the night, a classically chic chiffon number, came courtesy of design-veteran Wayne Clark, and was worn by television personality Monika Doel.

The message they were all there to promote: ‘Heart disease and stroke are the leading cause of death for Canadian women, but it’s within our power to protect our heart health,’ says Bobbe Wood, President & CEO of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of B.C. & Yukon in a press release from the foundation.

Here are some more facts about heart health, as provided by the Heart & Stroke Foundation:

‘ Women are more likely than men to die of a heart attack or stroke.
‘ In Canada, stroke kills 45 percent more women than men.
‘ Women are 16 percent more likely than men to die after a heart attack.

Thankfully, they also say that you can significantly reduce your risk for heart disease and stroke’by as much as 80 per cent’by making simple lifestyle changes. The first step is evaluating your risk level and becoming aware of the warning signs of heart disease and stroke.

To evaluate your risk, and learn what you can do to help prevent the onset of heart disease or stroke, take the Heart Truth quiz and read the tips for healthy living at thehearttruth.ca.

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Photos courtesy of: The Heart Truth/George Pimentel.