The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation’s Vision of a Future without Breast Cancer came to life for the ninth annual White Cashmere Collection in support of breast cancer research. The collection, which was curated by Canadian fashion designer Farley Chatto, brings with it the return of the limited edition Pink Cashmere bathroom tissue in an effort to raise awareness and funds for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Twenty five cents from every package sold will go towards this cause during the month of October.

This year’s collection featured 15 emerging and established Canadian designers and their creations made of 100% white and pink Cashmere Bathroom Tissue, including evening wear, jewelery, and for the first time, footwear, and children’s wear. The show kicked off it’s theme of Hollywood Glamour with an acrobatic performance on pink silk high above the audience, and a video of old Hollywood black and white photos to get everyone into a more glamourous frame of mind. The models came down the runway with classic Hollywood hair and makeup, wearing red lips and smokey, winged eyes.

We were amazed by each designer’s ability to add their own touch of glamour through their use of crystals, florals, draping, and volume, while working with such a delicate fabric. Izzy Camilleri was the first designer to contribute children’s wear to the show and it was a great success thanks to her playful, fun design and the little girl skipping down the runway. We had a chance to speak to some of the designers about the challenges of working with bathroom tissue and many of them described it as a welcome challenge and an opportuntity to try something they’ve never done. Montreal based Suhaila Niazi said her greatest difficulty was creating the structure and the lace detail on her dress, but that the month long process was well worth it when she saw the finished product.

Adrian Wu said that he wanted his design to be as over the top and large as possible, and described the process as being similar to working with clay because the bathroom tissue is so different from fabric and had to be “sculpted” to achieve his look. Though Wu did mention that he was able to make a separate collection of 15 dresses in one day, so it seems like this was a challenge he didn’t have a lot of problems with.

One of the biggest difficulties Cara Cheung had was in finding the right balance of strength and flexibility in the fabric to allow her dress to drape the way she wanted. When she found this, she used the old Hollywood theme as her inspiration for the full skirt and feminine details, but made it modern through the structured shoulders and her use of crystal embellishments.  While each designer seemed to go through different experiences in the process of their designs, they all agreed that they came out of it with an abundance of Cashmere, and a learning experience that they were glad to be a part of.

Cashmere is also taking part in Vote for the Cure, which is an opportunity for voters to see photos of the designs at facebook.com/cashmere and vote for their favourite. Cashmere will donate up to $10,000 in the winning designer’s name to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, and voters will be entered in a draw to win one of four $2,500 shopping sprees.