Spy: Fashion icons Karen Walker and Dame Trelise Cooper design for a cure

Michell A'Court in Karen Walker for the Breast Cancer Cure campaign.

Fashion icons Karen Walker and Dame Trelise Cooper are encouraging people to get in behind the Summer Tees for a Cure collection and fill up their Christmas stockings early.

The pair are among 16 labels, including Hailwood, Taylor and Kathryn Wilson, which have created designs for the popular and fashionable Breast Cancer Cure campaign.

Familiar faces Antonia Prebble, Wendy Petrie, Petra Bagust, Anna Reeve, Michele A’Court and Nerida Janetti are just some of the models who recently posed with the designs.

Walker, who has been a BCC ambassador for more than 20 years, tells Spy she is proud to continue working with the charity and has loved every T-shirt she has created for them since 2002.

Cooper has also worked with BCC for more than 20 years, 10 as patron, where she helped raise funds for research and to find a cure for the “devastating disease”. Her labels Trelise, Coop and Cooper have all created clever designs for this year’s tees.

Antonia Prebble in Moochie for the Breast Cancer Cure campaign.

“As a woman and business leader with a female-centric business, I am passionate about the plight that so many New Zealand women and their families face when affected by breast cancer. It is something I hold close to my heart,” Cooper tells Spy.

Bagust says the campaign brings the community and whānau together. “I’ve been campaigning for a breast cancer-free Aotearoa for 20 years with my mother, hubby, son and daughter. This is aroha and NZ fashion and beauty in action,” she says.

Petra Baghurst and daughter Venetia in Repertoire for the Breast Cancer Cure campaign.

A’Court loves being involved in raising money for medical research, and says as “a woman of a certain age”, the chance to pretend to be a model and represent women like her in photo shoots is pretty cool. “I also got to wear these delightful designs, which is very special. I tried to pick a favourite design from this summer range and ended up ordering four.”

Prebble says this year is the biggest iteration of designs yet, and the designers agreed to let their work be used on children’s tees for the first time.

Breast Cancer Cure CEO Sonja de Mari says it’s easy to make a difference by investing in a tee for $59 ($49 for kids).

“By supporting this campaign, you will help to raise vital funds for breast cancer research and help protect the next generation of New Zealanders so they can look forward to a future free from the fear of breast cancer,” says de Mari.

To check out all the designers and models of the campaign, go to breastcancercure.org.nz/teesforacure.