Two years ago, Stamford photographer Christine Irvin got a call from her friend, Laurel Kamen, of Washington, D.C., the night before Kamen was scheduled to undergo breast cancer surgery.
Kamen had an idea for a business, a clothing line for women who, like her, would be recovering from cancer-related treatments and needing shirts and dresses that were soft, comfortable and elegant.
Earlier this year, Irvin and Kamen officially launched their idea as the Alloro Collection, a 15-piece line that features clothing specifically tailored to adhere to certain design elements and criteria, making them easy for women recovering from cancer to wear. A percentage of the proceeds from the collection are donated to under-insured women.
The collection has largely been available for sale online and at trunk shows held in the New York area. On Monday at 6 p.m., Alloro clothing will be featured at an event at Stamford Hospital's Tully Center, organized in concert with the hospital's month-long "Paint the Town Pink" breast cancer awareness campaign.
"This is one of our major events," Michelle Palazzo, manager of patient services and operations at the hospital's Bennett Cancer Center. "The important thing is to get this word out. This is a community-wide effort."
Alloro's clothes are intended to offer women both physical and psychological healing and comfort. Soft, light fabrics like cashmere and silk were used to avoid chafing the skin, sleeves on shirts and dresses were cut to avoid sensitive areas, and a light, mesh bag was designed with post-surgery weight-lifting restrictions in mind. Yet, Irvin pointed out, the clothes are also designed to be flattering to any woman of any body type, with splashes of color and fashionable tailoring. Kamen's cousin, Roedean Landeaux, a professional couturier in New York City, worked with Irvin and Kamen on the elements of design for the collection.
"The clothing is designed to bring color back into your life because cancer tends to drain color from it," Irvin said. "Not only will the clothes make you feel good and look good, but they bring you back to where you were before."
The elements of management and business structure are not new to either Irvin or Kamen, who use New York City as their base of operations for Alloro. Kamen previously worked as an executive with American Express, while Irvin has worked in banking and brokerage with Reuters, Drexel Burnham Lambert and Smith Barney. She is also the co-owner of a 10-year-old photography business, Fete Accompli.
The name Alloro, Italian for "laurel," is a play on words, suggesting Kamen's name but also the laurel wreath, Irvin said, a symbol used in ancient Greece to denote victory.
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