Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell lead breast cancer campaign

Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell. Picture: Mario Testino

SUPERMODELS Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell have been unveiled as the faces of Fashion Targets Breast Cancer in the UK, 20 years after they first helped to launch the campaign.

The models have been photographed by Mario Testino for billboards around the UK to mark two decades since they posed for the first posters.

The Fashion Targets Breast Cancer campaign has raised £14 million for Breast Cancer Now’s research since 1996 by teaming up with retailers to sell items showing support for the cause.

The 2016 collection features pieces from high street shops Marks & Spencer, Debenhams, River Island, Topshop, Laura Ashley, Simply Be, Hush, The Fold, SVP and Blow Ltd.

Every item in the range carries a minimum 30 per cent donation towards Breast Cancer Now’s research, with some carrying a 100% donation, and the money raised is given directly to the UK’s largest breast cancer charity.

Moss said: “It’s great to be returning to support Fashion Targets Breast Cancer on this very special anniversary year. Since its UK launch in 1996, when I first appeared in the campaign poster, Fashion Targets Breast Cancer has gone on to impact so many lives by funding vital research into this devastating disease.’”

Campbell, whose mother Valerie battled breast cancer, added: “I never could have expected back in 1996 that I would go on to experience first-hand the harrowing effect this disease can have on individuals, families and loved ones.

“For the last twenty years Fashion Targets Breast Cancer has united us all - scientists, models, designers, mothers, photographers, retailers - as a powerful force against the disease. That’s two decades of incredible support for cutting-edge breast cancer research and it’s vital that we don’t stop now. With 2016’s campaign, I’m honoured to stand with people across the UK, united in our belief that, together, we will win this fight.”

Testino said: “When I was asked to photograph Fashion Targets Breast Cancer’s original faces, Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss, to mark its 20th anniversary, I couldn’t say no.

“Sadly, we have all been affected by cancer at some point in our lives and there is nothing worse than knowing that a woman close to your heart has breast cancer. That is why this campaign is so important. We know that when we join together we can achieve great things; the last twenty years of Fashion Targets Breast Cancer has shown us this.

“We must continue to stand together, for the next twenty years and beyond, to raise more money for crucial research that will ultimately save lives now and in the future.”

Fashion Targets Breast Cancer was originally founded by designer Ralph Lauren in America in 1994 after he lost a close friend to the disease.

Models and actresses Claudia Schiffer, Elle Macpherson, Kylie Minogue, Georgia May Jagger, Sienna Miller, Lily Donaldson, Twiggy, Yasmin Le Bon and Abbey Clancy have all fronted the campaign while Ellen von Unwerth, Patrick Demarchelier, Rankin and Simon Emmett are among the photographers who have participated.

Mary Allison, Director for Scotland at Breast Cancer Now, said: “Over the past twenty years, Fashion Targets Breast Cancer has raised £14 million for pioneering breast cancer research in the UK.

“These vital funds have enabled discoveries that are transforming the lives of so many people affected by breast cancer. But, with over 4,600 women being diagnosed with breast cancer every year in Scotland and around 1,000 dying, there’s so much more we can do. That’s why we’re asking the public to continue to stand with us and ‘Wear Your Support’ with pride.”