TRADITIONAL CHARITY FASHION SHOW AT THE WHITE PALACE

Belgrade, 14 February 2010 – HRH Crown Princess Katherine in cooperation with Deputy Mayor of Belgrade, Mrs. Radmila Hrustanovic and Modeling Agency Fabrika hosted tonight at the White Palace sixth Humanitarian Fashion Show, traditionally held on St. Valentine’s Day.

The event was attended by Mrs. Alison Andrews, daughter of Crown Princess Katherine. Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Alexander II and Prince Philip couldn’t be present due to their obligations to be at the event hosted by President Tadic at the National Theatre for Serbian Statehood Day.

This year the haute couture collection of the renowned Italian designer Renato Balestra was presented, as well as the prêt-à-porter collection of Serbian designer Predrag Vukasinovic and the first children’s collection by our most renowned fashion designer Dragana Ognjenovic.

All proceeds from the Fashion Show will benefit the breast cancer campaign supporting training of the Serbian doctors and medical staff. In addition the Hospital Centre Zemun will get one mammography machine.

Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Katherine welcomed guests and expressed her satisfaction with the humanitarian efforts that the citizens of the Serbian capital showed tonight, despite poor weather conditions in Belgrade during the last two days. In addition, Princess Katherine emphasized: “It is my great pleasure to see that we are all united in the fight against this terrible disease. This desire I’ve taken to heart in my personal mission for medical diplomacy. Only by working together can we spread the word around and make sure our women, the women of Serbia get the message loud and clear! Breast cancer can be cured! Death should not be an option! Please take care of yourselves, so you can continue to care for your loved ones. Early detection is the best prevention! Please remember that, and please have regular check ups”.

Beside Her Royal Highness, speeches were delivered by Mrs. Radmila Hrustanovic, Deputy Mayor of the City of Belgrade, Dr. Tomislav Stantic, State Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Mrs. Vesna Mandic, Founder of Modelling Agency Fabrika.

Breast cancer is one of the main causes of premature death of women in Serbia. Every year over 4000 new cases are registered, which represents more than a quarter of all malignant diseases for women. Every year more than 1600 women die of breast cancer, which is 18% of cancer death rate.

Breast cancer is usually discovered in the late stage for women in Serbia. At the time of diagnosis, for more than half women the spread of disease from cancer to regional lymph nodes, skin, or metastases already exists which significantly reduces their chances for cure.

Measured in years of life lost, breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women in Serbia aged 25-44 and ranked third as the cause of death in women aged 45-64 years.

Renato Balestra is an internationally renowned Italian Fashion Designer. He designs and markets approximately thirty different ranges that include haute couture and ready-to-wear collections, a complete line of men’s wear and a wide range of accessories. His private clients include prestigious names from all over the world. Renato Balestra has designed clothes for the Empress Farah Diba, the Queen of Thailand, the first ladies of the Philippines and Egypt, Saudi Arabian Princesses and for leading celebrities of the international jet-set, not forgetting, of course, famous actresses.

Dragana Ognjenovic is the most renowned Serbian fashion designer who created DO Fashion and introduced the DO brand in 1992. Dragana entered the fashion industry as a painter. While studying painting at Belgrade’s Academy of Arts, she began working as a graphic and interior designer, and later designed costumes for film and theatre, as well as for apparel companies. Shape tailoring and high quality fabrics have always been Dragana’s signature. Dragana’s dedication to fine and monochromatic vision attracted a loyal clientele of intellectuals and professional elite. On tonight’s Fashion Show she presented her first children’s collection.

The third collection presented was a prêt-à-porter collection by the Serbian designer Predrag Vukasinovic. Mr. Vukasinovic, fashion designer and founder of Fashion Studio “Ghetto”, presented his collection “Flirt” that was specially designed for this opportunity. The author has found inspiration in glamour of Royal Heritage. Those unique models were fabricated of wool and silk of superb quality.

General sponsors of the event were “Gorki list”, Next, Samsung and Banca Intesa. The Fashion Show was supported by: AlItalia, Digital Printing Center, Hotel Townhouse 27, World of Wine, Max Factor, Hairstyling Gruppa L’Ultima, Buzz Advertising and Delta Motors/BMW. HRH Crown Princess Foundation would also like to thank: Algotech, Alpine d.o.o, Alura Med, Arxikon d.o.o, Art Ival, Ball Packaging Europe, Biotec International, Boehringer Ingelrheim Serbia d.o.o, Bozen Cosmetic d.o.o, Chrysler Balkans, Coca Cola HBC - Srbija AD, Delta Humanitarian Fund, Dessert Cacak, Dijamed, Dunav – Society for running a free pension Fund, ETEM SCG d.o.o, FAP Korporacija AD Priboj, Fresenius Medical Care Serbia, Frikom a.d, Grey Worldwide d.o.o, Hemofarm AD, Hotel IN - New Company d.o.o, IDEA d.o.o, Meat Industry Carnex, Minaqua BB, ITM Group, Luna d.o.o. Pozarevac, Metal Globe d.o.o, Butchery Nedeljkovic, New Moment New Ideas Company, OTP Bank Serbia a.d. Novi Sad, Paroco Medical Equipment, PHARMASWISS, Palanacki Kiseljak a.d, Bakery Klas, Bakery Trpkovic, Radix d.o.o, Rehau d.o.o, Simplex d.o.o, Tigar d.o.o, Verano Motors d.o.o, Veropoulos - Super Vero, VZSSSS "Visan" Zemun, Winery Jelic, WOW Winery, Jewelry Tomasevic, Mr. Stojan Andjelkovic, Mr. Tahir Hasanovic, Ms. Dolores Nikolis Dimitrijevic, Mr. Zeljko Sajn, Mr. Spyridon Vlachos.

At the end of the Show, the luckiest guests, drafted by Ms. Emina Jahovic, our famous singer and face of the campaign for breast cancer prevention implemented by HRH Crown Princess Katherine Foundation, together with Italian model Umberto Ammirati, were presented with special gifts thanks to Tigar Company and Jewellery Tomasevic. Company Art Ival also donated special products to all guests at the Fashion Show.