PONY Creates "Check Your Self" Collection with Artist Laurie Shipley to Support Keep A Breast

Online, September 27, 2011 (Newswire.com) - PONY, the classic athletic footwear brand, teams up once again with the Keep A Breast Foundation for the "Check Your Self" Collection to raise breast cancer awareness and prevention among young women. "Check Your Self" is a creative collaboration that brings together some of Keep A Breast's top artists to customize PONY's shoes. $3 from the sale of each shoe from PONY's new line of vegan styles will be donated toward the organization.

"PONY is a globally influenced brand and that is why we were drawn to Keep A Breast because of their position as a leader in raising breast cancer awareness among youth on a similar worldwide scale," says Tess Passero, Marketing Director of PONY. "We are so excited to partner with KAB again this year in their active role in raising awareness through art, music, fashion and sport."

This year's collection is designed by renowned artist and Keep A Breast supporter Laurie Shipley and will retail from $45.00 to $55.00. It will be available starting October 1st for Breast Cancer Awareness Month on PONY and Keep A Breast's websites, as well as other select retailers to be announced. The low-profile vegan designs are perfect sneakers for style and symbolize a youth-based sensibility that epitomizes the personality of the Keep A Breast Foundation. Taking inspiration from nature, Native American and old-world sailor imagery, Shipley's designs incorporate KAB's message of taking a stand to make the world a better, healthier place for future generations.

The PONY Check Your Self Collection helps spread the word about breast cancer prevention, early detection, and the importance of living a healthy toxic-free lifestyle with the incidence of breast cancer being increasingly linked to toxic chemicals in our environment, water and food supply.

"As Keep A Breast transitions into a green foundation, we are so excited to be working with PONY on these vegan styles that embody the Keep A Breast girl," says Keep A Breast co-founder Shaney Jo Darden. "We are thrilled to broaden our important message to young women through this unique and important collaboration with PONY. Raising nearly 20,000 dollars with last year's collaboration, we are so excited to grow with PONY and are tremendously grateful for their support and generosity."

About Keep A Breast: The Keep A Breast FoundationTM is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization. Our mission is to help eradicate breast cancer by exposing young people to methods of prevention, early detection and support. Through art events, educational programs and fundraising efforts, we seek to increase breast cancer awareness among young people so they are better equipped to make choices and develop habits that will benefit their long-term health and well-being.

About PONY: PONY was established in Brooklyn, New York circa 1972. PONY became one of the most iconic sports brands in the 1970's and 1980's. PONY's vision takes inspiration from the brand's New York blue-collar roots and authentic sport heritage. PONY is the Classic American Athletic Brand that provides a fresh alternative in a market cluttered with similarity. PONY radiates youthful exuberance, originality, and leadership while capturing the spirit and strength of its iconic 40-year history. For more information, please visit www.pony.com.

About Laurie Shipley: Laurie Shipley is an illustrator based out of North Carolina. Working with a diverse array of organizations both locally and on an international scale, her work can be seen within the music industry on tee shirts, music packaging, tour posters and musical instruments. Not limited to the music scene, Laurie's illustrations have been exhibited in galleries across the country and published on textiles, book covers, magazines, movie posters, custom toys, package design and a wide variety of fashion apparel. Her imaginative aesthetics is not limited to any specific medium or genre, although her current focus is a juxtaposition of simplistic and intricate pattern illustration for textiles and package design.

Laurie received her BFA in Illustration from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2004. She currently dwells in a continuous creative environment with her son and two cats, extending her artistic responsibility to accommodate her diy ethos and humanist lifestyle. Laurie unconventionally home educates her amazing son, Ethan, through quality life experiences and their supportive family of locally home schooling friends.