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Jennifer Berman
Media Relations
NYU Medical Center
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Email: Jennifer.Berman@nyumc.org

MODELS EVA MENDES & HEIDI KLUM, AMONG OTHERS, POSE NAKED FOR THE MARC JACOBS “PROTECT THE SKIN YOU’RE IN” T-SHIRT CAMPAIGN
Designer Marc Jacobs, Robert Duffy, President and CEO of Marc Jacobs LLC, and Matthew Harris, M.D., Surgical Oncologist, all honored at this year’s 2007 NYU Cancer Institute Gala

NEW YORK, NY – October 12, 2007 – The “Protect The Skin You’re In” campaign began last year when Mr. Jacobs and fellow honoree and business partner Robert Duffy, President of Marc Jacobs International, LLC, persuaded celebrities including Naomi Campbell, Winona Ryder, Rufus Wainwright, Julianne Moore, and Selma Blair to disregard warnings from agents and managers and pose naked for a series of T-shirts about the dangers of skin cancer. The campaign raised awareness and almost $400,000 for the NYU School of Medicine’s Interdisciplinary Melanoma Cooperative Group, led by Dr. Iman Osman. Photographer Brian Bowen Smith traveled around the world multiple times for photo shoots for the shirts, a tribute to late NYU physician Dr. Jesse Ruben.

Mr. Duffy, a patient of Dr. Richard Shapiro, spoke about his treatment for melanoma at the NYU Cancer Institute Gala. He said the melanoma campaign will be an annual affair for Marc Jacobs: last year's sold out designs are being reissued along with new T-shirts, featuring the models Helena Christensen, Eva Mendes, Heidi Klum and Alison Lohman in the nude.

Every hour, someone dies of melanoma, but if caught early, the cure rate could be 100 percent. Melanoma is the easiest cancer to detect early because all you need is a trained pair of eyes. The message is don't let embarrassment stop you from stripping down before your physician or someone you love, and use the ABCDE rule--developed by physicians at NYU Medical Center--to determine if a mole could be cancerous: A for asymmetry; B for irregular border; C for color variation; D for diameter larger than a pencil eraser; and E for evolution of existing mole.

For more information about melanoma and other cancers go to www.nyuci.org

All proceeds from the T-shirts will go to support the NYU Cancer Institute.

T-shirts will be sold nationwide at all Marc Jacobs stores.
For store location go to www.Marcjacobs.com

Above: Claudia Galeano from NYU Medical Center holds one of the T-Shirts from the Marc Jacobs "Protect The Skin You're In" Campaign. Pictured on the shirt is model Dita Von Teese.

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