Note: This post has been updated from an earlier version
Care+Wear, a healthcare business that creates clothing items to improve the patient experience for people with ports and peripherally inserted central catheters or PICC lines, has teamed up with Oscar de la Renta in a first for the high-end apparel brand.
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Care+Wear, which emerged victorious in MedCity ENGAGE’s Pitch Perfect contest last year, collaborated with Oscar de la Renta on a hoodie for patients receiving treatment via a central line or port-a-cath.
“Oscar would have been proud to use fashion to enhance the lives of patients facing cancer treatment,” Alex Bolen, CEO of Oscar de la Renta in a news release. “We are lucky to have found a great partner in Care+Wear to help make this project a reality.”
Patients may have a PICC line for a few different reasons such as chemotherapy, blood transfusion, IV antibiotics and other prolonged IV treatments.
The hoodie includes two clinically compatible diagonal zippers on either side of the chest to allow clinicians to easily access a patient’s treatment area without the patient having to undress, according to the release. It also has a high neckline with snaps at the top of the zippers so that treatment lines can reach the chest area while still keeping the patient warm in the hospital.
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Oscar de la Renta is also donating 500 Hoodies to the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center in Miami in order to improve the patient experience for those receiving treatment there.
At the start of the year, Care+Wear launched a dignified hospital gown in collaboration with Parsons School of Design. It includes snaps on the arms for easy IV access, backside coverage and a telemetry pocket. It followed a six-month competition the previous year in which Parsons students collaborated with patients, fashion designers, nurses, doctors, and hospital leaders from NYU Langone, New York-Presbyterian, Massachusetts General Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic.
Looking ahead, Care+Wear plans to roll out more collaborations with partners across nonprofits, designers, and hospital systems, according to Care+Wear CEO A collaboration with fashion designer Lucy Jones will roll out new products in May, Care+Wear CEO Chat Razdan said in response to emailed questions.
The company’s business model includes both direct to consumer sales and sales to hospitals. Care+Wear has more collaborations that will be rolling out new products later this year.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly described the sweatshirt as a PICC line friendly hoodie. It is designed for a central line. We regret the error.
