Fourth Annual Blue Jacket Fashion Show Included David Byrne, André Leon Talley, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Bill Nye And More for Men's Health And Prostate Cancer Awareness

NEW YORK, Feb. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The fourth annual Blue Jacket Fashion Show was held February 5, 2020 at Pier59 Studios, wrapping up CFDA's New York Men's Fashion Week. Janssen Oncology, part of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, returned as the official healthcare sponsor. The Blue Jacket Fashion Show was held to raise awareness for men's health and prostate cancer detection and treatment.

The Blue Jacket Fashion Show brought together the fashion, entertainment, healthcare and media worlds to openly discuss men's cancer issues, with an emphasis on educating men on early detection, risk factors and importance of early treatment across the disease continuum. Coinciding with February's Cancer Prevention Month, the Blue Jacket Fashion Show included designers such as Thom Browne, Brooks Brothers, Stephen-F, Nicholas Graham, Michael Kors, Bruno Magli, Hugo Boss and John Varvatos, who used their creative talents to "reinvent" the traditional blue blazer.

Those walking the runway wearing one-of-a-kind blue jackets included athletes, models, patient advocates, actors, and TV personalities. The evening was hosted by fashion industry icon André Leon Talley, and models included musician David Byrne, TV personalities Dr. Mehmet Oz and Jesse Palmer, educator Bill Nye, actors Lee Tergenson, Dominic Fumusa and Jeremy Carver, news anchor Mike Woods, professional football player Buster Skrine, TV personalities Nigel Barker and Carson Kressley, radio hosts Elvis Duran and DJ Envy, model Alex Lundqvist, fashion icon Simon Doonan and men's health expert Dr. Mike Varshavski. 

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men, behind skin cancer. Approximately one in nine men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point during their lifetime. Risk factors for prostate cancer include increasing age, African ancestry, family history of the disease, certain inherited genetic conditions as well as other factors (i.e. diet, chemical exposure, smoking). There is a prostate cancer diagnosis every 3 minutes and it takes the life of a man every 17 minutes. Men 50 and over, or 45 if in a high-risk group, should talk to their doctors about their prostate cancer screening options. 

"Janssen Oncology has been a proud sponsor of the Blue Jacket Fashion Show since its inception as part of our commitment to supporting the patient community and raising awareness about the seriousness of prostate cancer," said Rodney Gillespie, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Janssen Oncology. "At Janssen, we are driven by an urgency and commitment to bringing transformational cancer solutions to the people who need them. As a leader in the fight against prostate cancer, we continue to develop and deliver new ways to help intercept the disease in its early stages."

In addition to sponsoring the Blue Jacket Fashion Show, Janssen Oncology is supporting the Prostate Cancer Foundation through Johnson & Johnson's Donate a Photo app. For every photo shared, Johnson & Johnson will donate $1 to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

Dr. Jonathan Simons, President and CEO of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, said, "At the Prostate Cancer Foundation we are so grateful for our partnership with the Blue Jacket Fashion Show. We share a common vision and lasting commitment of increasing awareness of the disease, achieving improved prostate health by adopting lifestyles that reduce the risk of prostate cancer and funding breakthrough research that ends all deaths from prostate cancer."

Photos from the 2020 Blue Jacket Fashion Show can be accessed via Getty here.

Sponsors of the 2020 Blue Jacket Fashion Show included: Janssen Oncology, Black Dahlia, Curious Elixirs, Lyft, Hennessy, Uro-GPO, US Polo Association and Saratoga Water.

About The Blue Jacket Initiative
The Blue Jacket Fashion Show was founded by Frederick Anderson and Laura Miller to create a platform to openly discuss men's health issues with an emphasis on cancer education, early detection, prevention and treatment options.

About the Prostate Cancer Foundation
The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) is the world's leading philanthropic organization dedicated to funding life-saving cancer research. Founded in 1993 by Mike Milken, PCF has raised more than $800 million in support of cutting-edge research by more than 2,200 research projects at 220 leading cancer centers in 22 countries around the world. Thanks in part to PCF's commitment to ending death and suffering from prostate cancer, the death rate is down by 52% and countless more men are alive today as a result. PCF research now impacts more than 70 forms of human cancer by focusing on immunotherapy, the microbiome, and food as medicine. Learn more at pcf.org.

About the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson
At Janssen, we're creating a future where disease is a thing of the past. We're the Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, working tirelessly to make that future a reality for patients everywhere by fighting sickness with science, improving access with ingenuity, and healing hopelessness with heart. We focus on areas of medicine where we can make the biggest difference: Cardiovascular & Metabolism, Immunology, Infectious Diseases & Vaccines, Neuroscience, Oncology, and Pulmonary Hypertension.

Learn more at www.janssen.com. Follow us at www.twitter.com/JanssenUS. Janssen Biotech, Inc. are part of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson.

SOURCE The Blue Jacket Initiative