Fed: sass & bide inspired by friend's cancer battle: Middleton

AAP General News (Australia)
02-18-2008
Fed: sass & bide inspired by friend's cancer battle: Middleton

EDS: Embargoed until 0500 (AEDT) on Monday, February 18



SYDNEY, Feb 18 AAP - Fashion designer Heidi Middleton has told how the death of a friend
to cancer has had a profound effect on her and her label, sass & bide.

While Middleton was winning her battle with breast cancer last year her friend Kate
Boyson, 32, was being overwhelmed by a particularly aggressive type of sarcoma.

Ms Boyson died in October, five months after her initial diagnosis, leaving a husband
and two children.

In an interview to be aired today on ABC Television's Australian Story, Middleton speaks
about her cancer treatment and her friend's death.

"I really didn't believe that Kate was going to die." she said.

"It wasn't until the week before she left that the reality hit.

"And that was definitely without a doubt the hardest period of that whole year.

"And one of the hardest things to go through in my life.

"I really just felt complete disbelief, and still do in a way."

Sass & bide returned to New York's fashion week this month after skipping it last year.

Their latest collection, entitled Rainbows for Kate, is a tribute to Middleton's friend.

"It is a tribute to her and what she meant to me and what our friendship meant to me,"

Middleton says.

"The collection really started with a beaded bracelet that I made and gave to Kate.

"And each coloured bead represented a different emotion.

"It's really all about life, love. The strength that Kate showed and the courage.

"For me, she is woven into every piece of that collection. And her spirit is, you know,
is not forgotten and will never be forgotten."

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KEYWORD: MIDDLETON (EMBARGOED)

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