Camilla Freeman-Topper is Creative Director and Co-Founder of luxury Australian fashion brand, CAMILLA AND MARC. Camilla, together with her brother Marc, founded philanthropic movement, ‘Ovaries. Talk About Them’, dedicated to getting a world first early detection test to clinical trials for the deadliest female cancer, ovarian cancer. A cause close to their hearts, at just 11 and 13 years old, respectively, Camilla and Marc lost their mother, Pamela, to the disease.
Our mother was involved in various charities from when we were very young. Watching her effortlessly engage in such meaningful activities was truly remarkable. Whenever new immigrants arrived from overseas, she would support them with such empathy, and help integrate them into the community, making them feel safe and welcome. She showed a profound sense of responsibility for others and always looked out for everybody else, dedicating her time to countless community causes. She would also often donate her time to our school. Giving was something engrained in us, and we always understood its meaning and importance.
Our mother – both in terms of the legacy of giving she left for us and the legacy we hope to create in her honour. Seeing her set such a great example made it easy for us to understand the importance of giving. And, watching someone we loved very dearly, go through an excruciating battle with ovarian cancer and wanting to honour her strength is what has driven us to launch the campaign called ‘Ovaries. Talk About Them.’ I was very young at the time of her passing, and didn’t really understand the intricacies of the disease, but a few years ago now, my brother Marc and I began doing more research, and discovered so many injustices in the healthcare system which has meant this disease has been chronically under-researched and underfunded, and the statistics have barely changed since my mother’s passing. There is no early detection test for ovarian cancer, despite it being the deadliest female cancer. Millions of women around the world are diagnosed in late stages 3 or 4, because there is no early detection test, which unfortunately means they don’t live long enough to advocate for change. Ultimately, we want to change those statistics so other families don’t have to experience the loss we did.
Marc and I had always wanted to do something to honour our mother and by the time we had grown such a strong platform, we felt compelled to use it to drive change and make a difference. So back in 2018-19 we started doing extensive research and met with many specialists all over the world. Through that research, we realised we could raise money for various causes but fundamentally what made the most sense to us was focussing on generating funding and awareness towards an early detection test for ovarian cancer. That’s when we decided to partner with Professor Caroline Ford and her remarkable team at the University of New South Wales who are working to get a world-leading early detection test to clinical trials. We launched the Ovaries. Talk About Them. campaign in 2020 and every year we create a limited-edition capsule collection which we sell during a one-week campaign. Another vital aspect to this campaign is raising awareness and educating people about ovarian cancer- the signs and symptoms, the misconceptions about a detection test, the dire statistics and lack of funding, the stigmas around ovaries, and so much more. Through this global campaign, we have not only raised millions of dollars, but we’ve also significantly raised much needed awareness for ovarian cancer and hope to continue to do so.
It's very emotional and extremely rewarding. We get private messages from people all the time saying, ‘I didn't know it was a thing, you've just educated me on this, thank you.’ Obviously, the money raised has been crucial to advance the research in the lab, but awareness is just as important. That's what makes me feel like we are doing something great in our mother’s honour – and for all the sufferers who have never been able to advocate for themselves because they've tragically passed, all too soon.
Ovarian cancer is known as the silent killer because it is extremely hard to diagnose. Over 75 per cent of the 310,000 women diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year are diagnosed in the later stages of disease, when treatment is more difficult. And less than half of those diagnosed survive beyond 5 years. If we could catch it earlier with an early detection test, women would have a vastly better chance of surviving. But there is no test, there have been no medical advancements in 30 years, despite it being the deadliest female cancer. Why is that? Is it because there are no advocates, nobody screaming up and down? Is it because cancer research is predominantly a male-dominated space? Is it because women’s health has just been neglected? We all come from ovaries. It just doesn't make sense to me.
The power of community to make meaningful change. Growing up in a very strong community is something I have come to appreciate immensely over the years. A lot of people don't get to experience this. Our community has come together for us so many times now and continues to grow every year. We have hundreds of people who support us to raise awareness locally by posting about the campaign. We have an entire international community doing the same. And then we have our generous community of donors who come from all over the world. The number of impressions the campaign has yielded over the last few years is insane – into the millions. Last year’s campaign alone, our social impressions hit 76 Million. That's a force to be reckoned with. When you're arming people with information, they can really rise to the occasion and make informed decisions about their health and advocate for themselves. The act of raising awareness has been incredibly profound.
In the beginning when we decided to do this, I still felt uncomfortable talking about it publicly. It was very confronting. As the months and years have gone by, being able to talk about it has empowered me and given me courage. By talking, you heal and grow. We've been running our brand now for just over 20 years and we might have our names on the door, but we are predominantly private people. But we have a real story, a great platform and an incredible community so why wouldn't we share that to raise awareness and advocate for women who haven't been able to do so themselves?
If there is heart and truth to your story then you must gather all the courage you can muster and scream it from the rooftops. Philanthropy can achieve so much but if there isn't a genuine connection, and heart and truth to the story, it's not going to cut through. It’s the same when trying to galvanise communities. Storytelling, speaking from experience and sharing those deep, honest truths is the only way we could ever do what we have done. It has to come from a place of deep truth and authenticity.
To get this test into clinical trials and to continue advocating for the women and their families who can’t advocate for themselves. If we can achieve that, we will be many steps closer to having significant impact on the lives of millions of women and their families all around the world and hopefully, we will have made our mother proud.
Camilla Freeman-Topper is Creative Director and Co-Founder of luxury Australian fashion brand, CAMILLA AND MARC.
In 2020, together with her brother Marc Freeman, they founded the philanthropic movement, Ovaries. Talk About Them. It is dedicated to getting a world first early detection test to clinical trials for the deadliest female cancer, ovarian cancer.
Ovarian cancer has always been a cause close to Camilla and Marc’s hearts. When they were just 11 and 13 years old, respectively, they lost their mother, Pamela, to the disease.
Today, they have raised a remarkable $1.7 million in funding to progress an early detection test, in partnership with the University of New South Wales Gynaecological Cancer Research Group, led by Professor Caroline Ford.
