FURNITURE|TODAY
September 14, 2009

Platt teams with designer to raise money for cancer

By Thomas Russell

LOS ANGELES - High-end case goods importer the Platt Collections has teamed up with a designer for a product launch that aims to raise money to fight breast cancer.

Glenn Midnet, owner and CEO of Naples, Fla.-based Design Group West, founded Furniture for the Cure as a tribute to his mother, Alyce, who died of breast cancer in 1974. The Alyce chair that he created incorporates the pink awareness ribbon into the design. Midnet showed a drawing of the chair to some reps, and one suggested he contact Larry Platt, president of the Platt Collections. Platt, who serves on the board of a West Coast medical center, was intrigued.
"I am passionate about health care, and this is a wonderful way to address cancer research," Platt said.

Platt will show the Alyce chair at the Oct. 17-24 High Point Market, which takes place during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It is made with plantation mahogany and comes in a pink Dupioni silk fabric and platinum and pearl metallic fabric options. It also can be customized with the customer's own material. Other pieces will be added to the collection in the spring. Platt's High Point showroom is at 200 N. Hamilton St., South Court space 218. Platt and Furniture for the Cure will donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale the chair and other pieces to cancer research. Platt said that retailers can further participate in the program by hosting cancer awareness events in their stores.

"We felt it was a unique opportunity to increase everYone's business and at the same time do a wonderful thing for the community and address a disease that affects so many women," Platt said.

The National Breast Cancer Awareness month Web site claims that next to skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the U.S. Citing figures from the American Cancer Society, it estimates that 40,170 women in the U.S. could die from the disease this year alone and that 192,370 new cases are expected to be diagnosed this year.

It also estimates that there are 2.5 million breast cancer survivors living in the U.S.

"I am glad to be able to help in a meaningful way, and hopefully we can find a cure so people don't have to suffer like my mom did," said Midnet. "That was the inspiration behind it."

Glenn Midnet designed the Alyce chair, the first piece in a new collection by the Platt Collections called Furniture for the Cure. A portion of the sale proceeds will be donated to breast cancer research.

As part of the initiative, he would like people to write about their experiences with the disease on the www.furnitureforthecure.org Web site. Those stories may lead to other pieces in the collection being named for those who have battled breast cancer.