Heart disease is the No.1 killer of women. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), through The Heart Truth campaign, took on the challenge of giving women an urgent wake-up call about their heart health. To raise awareness and prompt action, NHLBI created the Red Dress to serve as the issue’s national symbol and a “red alert” for women. A groundbreaking collaboration between NHLBI and the fashion industry brought the Red Dress to life on New York Fashion Week runways. In February 2009, The Heart Truth gave women everywhere an early Valentine with its seventh Red Dress Collection Fashion Show (RDC 2009). Sponsored by Diet Coke, Swarovski, Johnson & Johnson and Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, and hosted by Project Runway mentor Tim Gunn, RDC 2009 was a heartfelt celebration of American Heart Month. The show featured 20 celebrity women including Katie Couric, Hilary Duff and Cicely Tyson modeling one-of-a-kind Red Dresses created by America’s top designers, from Carolina Herrera and Donna Karan to Max Azria and Badgley Mischka. More than 1,500 influencers in the women’s health, fashion, and national media attended, and coverage included top placements in the Associated Press, Glamour, NBC’s Today Show, Entertainment Tonight, MSNBC.com, and WallStreetJournal.com.

On February 13, The Heart Truth gave women an early Valentine with the debut of RDC 2009. The Collection—which kicked off New York Fashion Week—was much-anticipated event that brought together “women with heart” to share The Heart Truth message from New York to communities nationwide. Twenty celebrities—from Hilary Duff and Lynda Carter to Katie Couric and Cicely Tyson—graced the runway in one-of-a-kind red dresses from America’s most prestigious design houses, including Carolina Herrera, Donna Karan and Max Azria. Corporate sponsors Diet Coke, Swarovski, Johnson & Johnson and Bobbi Brown Cosmetics extended the show’s message through their myriad of marketing channels. Hosted by Tim Gunn, Project Runway mentor, RDC 2009 was a heartfelt event that reminded women to take action to protect their heart health. Post-show, the Collection was on public display at Rockefeller Center’s Top of the Rock and auctioned to raise funds for continued education.

RDC 2009 results included:• Event attendance by more than 1,500 influencers from women’s health, fashion, corporate America and media; • Significant earned media results (400 million+ impressions to date) that included actionable messages on reducing risk in:- Wire and print outlets, including: Associated Press, US Weekly, New York Post, Woman’s Day and Glamour.- Broadcast and online outlets, including: CNN.com, NBC’s Today Show, MSNBC.com, Entertainment Tonight (multiple segments with anchor and participant Samantha Harris), Rachael Ray (two segments with participants Valerie Bertinelli and Hilary Duff), CBSNews.com, CBS Early Show, WallStreetJournal.com, Regis and Kelly, Huffington Post and LATimes.com.- Outlets reaching women of colour, including Essence and Univision;• Reality show Tori & Dean filmed participant Tori Spelling for future program content and PSA; and • A 2009 survey showed women’s awareness of their No.1 killer increased to 65%; awareness of Red Dress symbol is also on the rise.