Celebrities Strut and Stumble on the Catwalk to Raise Awareness for Heart Disease
Jessica Menton | Feb 10, 2012 7:47pm EST | 3min:47sec
For the tenth year in a row famous females hit the catwalk to raise awareness of heart disease on the eve of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in New York. Eighteen celebs, including supermodel Christie Brinkley and singer Gloria Estefan, walked the runway on Wednesday wearing red dresses donated by some of America's most well-known designers. Heart disease is the leading killer of U.S. women and Jennifer Nettles, the lead singer of the country music group Sugarland, has a personal connection to the disease.
Model turned actress Rebecca Romijn kicked off the show in Marchesa, navigating the runway the same way she did in her supermodel days. Before the show, Romijn wasn't sure if she still had her modeling skills. Although she looks like a model, actress Jenna Elfman said she had been working on her strut to make sure she didn't have any missteps.
Backstage before the show Brinkley said she had not done much runway modeling during her career. Of course, when she started down the catwalk to ex-husband Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl" she stumbled, but quickly recovered.
Actress Rose McGown also staggered during her turn, but then swiftly composed herself and finished her strut with the crowd on her side. The Heart Truth said that in 2009 almost 48 percent of women reported discussing heart disease with their doctor, up from 30 percent in 1997.
To celebrate its 10th anniversary, The Heart Truth has partnered with Million Hearts, a national initiative of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to prevent one million heart attacks and strokes over the next five years. Other models in the Red Dress show included Debbie Phelps, who stopped on the catwalk to kiss her son U.S. Olympic gold medalist swimmer Michael Phelps, "Dynasty" star Linda Evans, actresses Minka Kelly and "Millionaire Matchmaker" Patti Stanger.
The red dress show coincides with New York Fashion Week, which starts on Thursday with some 90 designers showing their fall 2012 collections.
