NEW YORK — Saks Fifth Avenue and the Council of Fashion Designers of America raised more than $1.9 million to benefit breast cancer organizations during the fourth annual Fashion Targets Breast Cancer shopping weekend held in September, CFDA reported on Thursday.
The four FTBC/Saks shopping weekends, during which 2 percent of sales through all Saks Fifth Avenue channels are earmarked for breast cancer charities, have raised a total of $9 million for the FTBC program. Overall, FTBC projects, such as the sale of its bull’s-eye logo T-shirts around the world, have raised $22 million since the group was started in 1994.
Saks’ fourth shopping weekend was held Sept. 18-21, but a final tally of sales from all Saks stores, Off 5th locations and Saks.com was not available until late last year, due to the nature of accounting and dispersing the funds to multiple charities around the country, a spokesman said.
“It is a gratifying effort, and testimony to the power of a simple idea,” said Peter Arnold, executive director of the CFDA.
Besides the 2 percent of sales from Saks locations, this year, the program raised additional funds through special FTBC merchandise that included the FTBC T-shirt designed by Ralph Lauren; a silver charm bracelet and charms by Robert Lee Morris, Stephen Dweck, Lisa Jenks, Betsey Johnson and Diane Von Furstenberg, and 61 special-edition Mercedes-Benz CLK500 Coupes that sold for $54,000 apiece. Several local Saks stores also held related benefits for local breast cancer charities during the month that, when combined with the $1.9 million national campaign, plus net proceeds from the FTBC merchandise, actually brought the total raised to more than $3 million to benefit some 65 breast cancer organizations, Arnold said.