Five years after this model had both of her breasts removed, she walked in a New York Fashion Week lingerie show ― eight months pregnant.
Camden social influencer and cancer survivor Diamonique Valentine walked the New York Fashion Week to raise money for cancer research.
Diamonique Valentine planned to walk Philly-based lingerie brand AnaOno’s New York Fashion Week runway wearing its signature bra and a flowing chiffon skirt to hide her very pregnant tummy.
But when the breast cancer survivor stood atop the catwalk the second Sunday in September, a surge of confidence ran through her. She let the gauzy, tiered skirt fall open, showing off her eight-month pregnancy. Fishnets, gladiator sandals, and leather bracelets completed Valentine’s Mad Max-inspired runway look.
“In that moment, I decided to make the statement that breast cancer looks different on every body,” said Valentine, a 33-year-old Camden-based social media influencer. “I decided to share what being a survivor looked like for me in that moment: very pregnant, with my [chemotherapy] port scar visible. I’m giving people the view of being powerful from the other side.”
Valentine was 27 and a newlywed five years ago when she noticed a lump in her right breast while changing her bra. She thought it was a cyst, but made an appointment with her primary healthcare physician to be on the safe side.
Her doctor ordered a mammogram to be on the safer side.
The doctors ordered a biopsy. Valentine was diagnosed with stage 3 triple-negative breast cancer a few days later.
“When I got the results I thought maybe they were someone else’s,” she said, her voice still echoing disbelief. “I was way too healthy, way too young. … In that moment, I thought I was going to die.”
She underwent a double mastectomy, 16 rounds of chemotherapy, and reconstructive surgeries. While she was in treatment, doctors medically induced menopause to preserve her fertility. A year later, Valentine — who always wanted to be a mom — began trying to have a family.
“They suggested I wait five years in case of a recurrence,” Valentine said. “But life was hitting me hard. My cancer was so aggressive and I didn’t have time. When I got better I didn’t want to wait. Life isn’t promised. ”
Valentine’s son, Mali, is 3. A second boy is due at the beginning of November.
“I’m grateful to be a mother and a wife. I’m grateful to be her. I’m grateful to be alive.”
Full moon goddess energy
AnaOno’s founder, Dana Donofree, was also 27 when she was diagnosed with stage 1 HER2 breast cancer 15 years ago. She put her energy into making bras, underwear, lingerie, and sexy intimates after her treatment, launching AnaOno — her name spelled without the double Ds — from her Queen Village home in 2014.
“Every time I went bra shopping, I wanted to cry,” Donofree, 43, said. “I couldn’t find anything to fit my post-surgery body. I didn’t want to feel like a patient anymore.”
Donofree produced her first New York Fashion Week in 2017 to raise funds for stage 4 metastatic cancer, the most deadly, underfunded, and under-researched form of the disease. She partnered with Cancer Culture, a nonprofit founded by the late artist and philanthropist Champagne Joy, who died from stage 4 metastatic breast cancer in 2017, a month after Donofree’s inaugural show.
Donofree invited Valentine to walk in this year’s NYFW show earlier this year after she was moved by Valentine’s social media posts sharing her cancer journey.
“Diamonique is so full of life, hope, and joy,” she said. “I wanted to put that full moon goddess energy on the runway.”
The goal of this year’s show, “Body of Resistance,” was to raise $200,000. Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer was already woefully underfunded, Donofree said, and the current White House’s additional cuts to NIH put even more lives at risk. “It’s about spending more money on finding a cure, not wasting it on pink ribbons,” Donofree said.
Twenty-four women — survivors and patients, some with terminal diagnoses— walked the AnaOno show on a runway in a Lower East Side synagogue-turned-event space. Each woman represented one of four phases of the breast cancer journey: preventive, treatment, recovery, and late stage; and each of those phases were represented by a color: white, tan, pink, and black, respectively.
Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” kicked off the show, ushering women in their early 30s to mid-70s, to walk in their spandexed truth. Two of the women had one breast, six walked the runway flat-chested.
Valentine was the youngest to take the stage. When she appeared with her belly on full display, the audience erupted into applause. Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul” blared as she looped the catwalk.
“When Dana asked me to walk, I was afraid,” Valentine said. “I was eight months pregnant. I was uncomfortable being in the spotlight. But then I thought, ‘How could I turn down this opportunity?’ It’s really a blessing for me to be a part of something like this at this stage in my life.”