Halifax designer raising money to buys wigs for local breast cancer patients

A Halifax fashion designer uses his skills to raise money to help breast cancer patients – in memory of his late friend.

Halifax fashion designer John Michael Brewer has been raising money this month to buy wigs for local breast cancer patients.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is a cause close to his heart. Nearly 20 years ago, one of his close friends was diagnosed with breast cancer, and he wanted to do something to help.

“She kind of laughed at me and she said, ‘Well, no offence, you’re not going to be the one who cures cancer,’ and I said, ‘Well, fair enough. That’s true,’ but she said, ‘You could be somebody who helps the people who do help me with my treatments,’” said Brewer.

They came up with a fashion show fundraiser called “Metro Masquerade, Uncover the Cure.”

“She was going to wear a different wig during the runway with every outfit she wore, and we were going to raise money and give it to the people to help,” said Brewer.

“She went through chemo at the time, so she wasn’t able to make it to the show.”

After the success of the first show, Brewer and his friends began planning the next one.

“Halfway through the planning of the second year, she passed away, so she didn’t quite make it to the second year,” he said.

Those two shows, which were nearly 20 years ago now, raised close to $8,000 for the Breast Cancer Foundation and the Breast Cancer Society.

‘It felt very full circle’

His desire to help his friend — and others going through the same battle — is eventually what led to him becoming a designer. At one of the fashion show fundraisers, he connected with Angela Campagnoni, the founder of Atlantic Fashion Week.

During his first year at Atlantic Fashion Week, he showcased a handful of pink dresses as a nod to Breast Cancer Awareness.

Eventually, Brewer’s hobby of making clothes for his friends for a night out on the town grew into his own clothing brand called the “Drunk Gurl Collection.”

Now, years later, his connections in the fashion world, particularly with Soli Productions founder and CEO Solitha Shortte, brought him to Paris Fashion Week in early October to showcase a new collection.

“Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that Paris was going to become one of those opportunities,” he said.

With the Paris show landing during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Brewer took it as a sign.

“I remember sitting with the idea, thinking about how crazy it was and how if I didn’t have that initial conversation with my friend when she said, ‘Why don’t you create clothing and help the people who help me?’ I would have never followed that route,” said Brewer.

“It felt very full circle. It felt very surreal, and it felt like I wanted to do this.”

Buying wigs for patients

While Brewer has been part of several fundraising efforts over the years for a variety of causes, the moment of reflection this October brought Brewer back to his initial fundraiser, so he wanted to come up with another way to help breast cancer patients.

“Beautiful U R: Raising a Toast by Raising Funds” is Brewer’s latest fundraiser. The goal is to raise money to buy wigs for local patients.

He connected with the Sunshine Room with the QEII Foundation to make it happen.

“I asked around in the community of people I know, and someone else I know who battled breast cancer a couple years back said, ‘I can’t recommend anyone more than the Sunshine Room.’ She said, ‘They were there for me. They helped me along the way so much. They’re incredible people.’”

The sale of T-shirts and hats, along with other donations, has so far raised enough to buy about seven wigs.

As Breast Cancer Awareness Month comes to a close, Brewer thinks of his friend Nadine.

“My friend used to always say, ‘Life is too short to wake up with regrets. Love the people who treat you right. Forget about the people who don’t. When life gives you an opportunity, take it, and if it changes your life, let it.’”

The “Beautiful U R” fundraiser wraps up on Oct. 31.

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