Hong Kong: Raising Awareness of Heart Disease & Stroke

MasterCard Worldwide today announced its support of the Go Red For Women campaign by bringing it to Hong Kong in conjunction with MasterCard Luxury Week Hong Kong 2009. The campaign seeks to raise awareness of heart disease and stroke – the number one killer of women worldwide.

In support of the Hong Kong Heart Foundation, MasterCard will auction four red dresses specially designed by internationally-renowned Hong Kong designers. The Go Red For Women campaign, coordinated internationally by the World Heart Federation, aims to empower women with the knowledge and tools to take better charge of their own and their families’ heart health. In Hong Kong, heart disease and stroke claim the lives of more than one in four women.

The red dress is the symbol of the campaign, serving as a red alert for women to take action to protect their heart health. The Red Dress Collection has been a star-studded fixture at Fashion Week in New York every February since 2002 with the world’s top designers, supermodels and celebrities sashaying down the runway in a stream of scarlet for heart health.

Part of MasterCard Luxury Week Hong Kong 2009, the exclusive red dresses by Shanghai Tang, Dorian Ho, Vivienne Tam, and Ports 1961 will be shown at the closing show—The Red Dress Collection presented by MasterCard—on 29 August. The closing show will also showcase red dresses from a number of MasterCard Luxury Week Hong Kong participating brands, and include a limited-edition piece by Tommy Hilfiger.

Bidding will be open to MasterCard cardholders from 24 August, coinciding with the start of MasterCard Luxury Week Hong Kong. The dresses will be on display at the Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong for the duration of the event. Bidding details will be posted on http://www.mastercardluxuryweek.com.hk/. Bidding will close at 12.00am on 30 August and the MasterCard Luxury Week Hong Kong website will be regularly updated during the course of the week to indicate the highest bid received for each dress. Cardholders who are outbid during the auction can put in a new bid during the auction period and successful bidders will be notified by email.

The minimum bid for each dress will be posted on the event website. All proceeds will benefit the Hong Kong Heart Foundation and the winning bidders of the four specially designed red dresses will have their pieces custom made to size by each designer.

A number of other international fashion brands, including Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Chloe, and Alfred Dunhill, have also donated a variety of gorgeous luxury accessories to the cause. Guests attending the event will have the opportunity to buy tickets for the Red Draw for a chance to win these well sought after items. The Red Draw will include prizes worth a total of HK$100,000 from the event’s generous donors.

Dr. Patrick P K Wu, JP, Chairman of the Hong Kong Heart Foundation, said:

We are pleased that MasterCard is seeking to raise awareness of heart disease—the No.1 killer of women worldwide—through MasterCard Luxury Week Hong Kong. We are sure that, through this meaningful activity, awareness of women in Hong Kong of their risk of heart disease and stroke will be further enhanced, and they will pay more attention to a lifestyle which will mitigate these risks.

The Hong Kong Heart Foundation is a non-profit making organization engaged in promoting activities which help to reduce the incidence of diseases of the heart and the resulting mortality in Hong Kong.

Vice president, Communications, Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa, MasterCard Worldwide, Georgette Tan, said:

An alarmingly small number of women are aware that heart disease and stroke claim so many lives each year. With the right knowledge and tools, women can protect themselves and their loved ones, so this is an important call to action.

MasterCard has long been involved in programmes that reach out to women to educate and empower them. We would like to encourage consumers to bid for one of these red dresses, and take a big message from the heart, about the heart, to the women in their lives.

MasterCard Luxury Week Hong Kong supports Hong Kong’s positioning as a vibrant, fashionable city and a preferred shopping destination for luxury goods in Asia/Pacific. The runway shows will take place from 24 to 29 August 2009 at The Four Seasons Hotel, and will include top international designers and brand names like Diane Von Furstenberg, Thakoon, Tod’s, Escada, Kate Spade, Emmanuel Ungaro and Betsey Johnson.◊