Cure Series: Raising awareness of breast cancer

According to data from Breastcancer.org, it is estimated that 246,660 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year. About one in eight women will hear these sad news in their lifetime. It could be your girlfriend or wife, your mother, sister or best friend on the street.

It happened to Mason Watson’s mother, Sharon.

“She battled it for a couple of years and it would get better, then it would get worse, then better, and back to worse,” Watson recalled. “That was the hardest thing I have ever gone through because I was very close to my mom.”

Watson grew up loving cars and was never without his Hot Wheels. Spending his youth in the New Orleans area, he often attended car shows, fascinated by anything with tires and a steering wheel. Today, Watson attends ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California, where his passion for automotive design combines with his mother’s memory.

Sharon passed away in 2008 but through her son, The Cure Collection lives on.

“I wanted to do something to promote the awareness of this disease and raise funds for it,” Watson said. “I started with graphics and illustrations that I showed to some friends who thought I should turn them into shirts.”

Watson didn’t think much of it but once he put his designs to fabric, the shirts took off. Originally billed as Cars for a Cure Apparel in 2013, the company is now simply know as Cure Collection. Watson partnered with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, donating 20 percent of every sale to help fund breast cancer awareness.

“I like their philosophy in creating awareness and finding cures,” he said.

Cure Collection has customers all over the globe, recently filling orders to Russia, Finland, and Australia.

“That is what pushed me to take it to a new level, change the name, and give it a rebranding to Cure Collection,” Watson said. “We have the collector artwork style, plus people can chose to get one shirt or the entire collection of shirts.”

To date, the most popular is the BMW 2002. In time, Watson wants to offer more posters, stickers, and various artwork.

“I want to develop sweatshirts and hats too,” he said.

Cure Collection is expanding through the company’s Indiegogo page. A rebranding campaign is underway to commemorate the new name. As the campaign builds momentum and reaches the halfway mark, a special, never before seen, Sketch Collection will debut.

Other collections are forthcoming but the focus on breast cancer awareness is still the central theme.

“I have a bunch of designs in mind for the future but what I want people to see is the actual brand and what it stands for,” Watson said.

There is some good news according to Breastcancer.org. Breast cancer incidence rates in the U.S. started decreasing in the year 2000, after increasing for the previous two decades. Perhaps by wearing a Cure Collection shirt we can keep that trend moving?

You can meet Mason Watson below and see his designs through the Cure Collection Indiegogo page.

*Carl Anthony is the editor who manages Automoblog and lives in Detroit, Michigan.