The patient-led nonprofit marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month with a record of fundraising, a New York Fashion Week runway experience, and a limited-edition jewelry collaboration with Shaneli.
During Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Cancer Culture is emphasizing a mission that extends beyond awareness: funding research for Stage IV, or metastatic, breast cancer, an advanced form of the disease that remains incurable.
Founded in 2022 by advocates Beth Love and Rachel Burns, Cancer Culture has raised more than $600,000 over the past year, including $200,000 through its seventh annual New York Fashion Week Runway Experience. The organization directs 100% of donations to metastatic breast cancer research, without deducting operating expenses, placing research funding at the center of its advocacy.
“Awareness alone is not enough,” said Beth Love, Cancer Culture co-founder, who lives with Stage IV breast cancer. “We need to turn attention into meaningful research funding that advances treatments and brings us closer to cures.”
Fashion With a Purpose
Held at Thompson Central Park in New York City, Cancer Culture’s seventh annual Runway Experience brought breast cancer patients, survivors, and previvors onto the runway, raising $200,000 for curative-intent metastatic breast cancer research.
The presentation featured Dressed in LALA, AnaOno, Kate Hewko, Madison Chamberlain, Cosmic Collective, and ADG Boston, with Dolce Vita serving as Premier Shoe Partner. By placing individuals directly affected by breast cancer at the center of the fashion experience, the event connected personal stories with a broader call for research and action.
Beyond the runway, Cancer Culture joined people living with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer in a Times Square protest calling for greater attention and funding specifically for advanced-stage research. The demonstration highlighted the organization’s focus on a research priority it believes is too often overlooked by broader awareness initiatives.
“Strength in Every Shade”: Jewelry With a Mission
Extending its work through fashion and philanthropy, Cancer Culture has partnered with Shaneli on Strength in Every Shade, a limited-edition jewelry collection for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The handcrafted designs incorporate pink stones, black diamonds, and colors drawn from the Cancer Culture logo, including teal, purple, and green. Signature pieces include a symbolic ribbon necklace and diamond floral rings, translating the organization’s mission into wearable expressions of solidarity.
Proceeds from the collaboration will support Cancer Culture’s metastatic breast cancer research mission.
Explore the collection at Shaneli.
From Personal Experience to Collective Action
Cancer Culture was founded to amplify patient voices and direct funding toward research for Stage IV disease. Its approach combines advocacy, storytelling, fashion, and fundraising, placing the experiences of people living with metastatic breast cancer at the heart of its work.
“As a breast cancer survivor, I’ve seen too many lives lost to metastatic disease,” said Rachel Burns, co-founder of Cancer Culture. “We need more than awareness. We need research focused on finding cures so that metastatic breast cancer is no longer a terminal diagnosis.”
As October brings renewed attention to breast cancer, Cancer Culture is urging individuals and businesses to look beyond general awareness and support research dedicated to metastatic disease. Its message is direct: visibility matters, but sustained research funding is essential to advancing treatments and pursuing cures.
Through its runway experience, advocacy, and jewelry collaboration, Cancer Culture demonstrates how fashion can serve a purpose beyond the runway—bringing communities together around a cause with real human consequences.
Awareness gets attention. Stage IV research creates change.
Learn more at cancerculture.org.
