Julia Mjörnstedt Wins the ECCO Walk in Style Award
2013
ECCO honored Swedish entrepreneur Julia Mjörnstedt
during the opening of Copenhagen Fashion Week yesterday, awarding Julia €35,000
for her charity “Ung Cancer” (Young Cancer), which helps young women with
cancer and their families. The event was attended by 280 Danish and
international media representatives and many celebrities.
A committee of judges consisting of ECCO Chief
Designer Ejnar Truelsen, CEO of Danish Fashion Institute and Copenhagen Fashion
Week Eva Kruse, and last year’s winner Hadassah De Boer unanimously declared
Julia Mjörnstedt this year’s winner.
Julia is the sixth woman to receive the ECCO Walk in
Style Award and the main prize of €35,000 – an award recipients donate to
charities of their choice to improve other women’s lives.
Julia – a living example of how to cope with a
serious, life-threatening disease in the strongest way possible – has dedicated
her life to her cause and changed the lives of many young women with her
genuine, professional approach. Making the most of her great communication
skills, she has made cancer easier to cope with, has crushed many myths about
the disease, and has unfolded her life to others. She even received royal
recognition for her outstanding leadership and passionate humanitarian work
from Swedish King Carl Gustaf.
In January 2007, Julia was diagnosed with colon
cancer. Today, she is healthy and cancer free. However, cancer changed her life
forever, and she uses her experience with the disease to help others through
“Ung Cancer” (Young Cancer).
800 young adults are diagnosed with cancer every year
in Sweden alone. “Ung Cancer,” an organization for young adults between 16 and
30, works to improve young people’s lives both while they are sick and once
they have recovered.
The organization has four specific goals. First and
foremost, it aims to create a safe meeting place for young people with cancer.
The second objective is to make available more information about cancer. Third,
the organization is working on creating a system where all university hospitals
in Sweden have cancer wards specifically for young adults, and where all major
cities have aftercare units to help them adjust afterwards. Last but not least,
“Ung Cancer” wants to raise the general level of awareness about youth and
cancer.
Other Nominees
The other nominees were Journalist Cecilie
Beck from Denmark, model and TV presenter Anouk Smulders from
the Netherlands, actress Malgorzata Kozuchowska from
Poland, and model and actress Aleksandra Ørbeck-Nilssen from
Norway. They all received €1,500 for their chosen charities.
The Fashion Show
The leather costumes that featured prominently in the
ECCO Walk in Style Award Show were created by Zarah Voigt, a Danish designer
recognized internationally for her ability to articulate the goût de l’époque in
her one-of-a-kind, theater- and runway-inspired works. ECCO is one of the
leading leather manufacturers in the world. The catwalk showpieces reflected
the AW13 trends of ECCO’s commercial collection, featuring graphic silhouettes
and shoes perfectly paired with leather costumes. The show followed the
evolution of leather, from raw white hides in the beginning to tailored black
costumes towards the end of the show. Danish TV presenter, Felix Smith, was the
host of the evening.
It was amazing time in Denmark! Thanks ECCO for all!!! <3
