Katie Couric and Heidi Klum kick off New York Fashion Week

Katie Couric and Heidi Klum kicked off New York's Olympus Fashion Week Friday by unveiling a public service announcement on colon cancer.

ADVERTISEMENT

Part of the "Be Seen, Be Screened" campaign, the PSA is aimed at increasing women's awareness of risk and early detection of colon cancer.

The campaign was launched in February 2004 by Olympus and the Entertainment Industry Foundation's National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance. Couric is the alliance's co-founder.

Klum's participation is one example of how the fashion industry is working with the group to heighten awareness -- particularly among women, who often underestimate their risk for the disease, organizers said.

Colorectal cancer is curable 90 percent of the time when detected early, they said.

Dozens of designers will show their Fall/Winter 2005 lines at Fashion Week through next Friday.