Don’t feel sorry for Kate Jolie Rice. Though the little girl has alopecia, and as a result is without hair or eyebrows, she’s just as lively and active as your average five-year-old.
“She gets lots of questions,” says her mother Nicole Rice. “A lot of adults stare, actually. People look at her with pity because they think she has cancer. That’s why I am so determined to raise awareness. People associate baldness with (cancer).”
Alopecia is an auto-immune disease that sees the body attacking its own hair follicles. Lopecia areata results in partial hair loss. Alopecia totalis means all the hair on the body disappears. Kate Rice has no hair on her head and no eyebrows, but some eyelashes. She may end up with alopecia totalis eventually, says her mother.
To help the public understand the condition (which has no cure, and limited treatment options) and to raise money for the Canadian Alopecia Areata Foundation, Nicole is hosting a fashion event called A (Love) Project. It’s on Thursday, Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. at Urban Timber Reclaimed Wood Co. (10336 111 St.)
Participants will enjoy a fashion show based on garments from Nicole’s online store, called Sweet (Jolie). All the clothes are from the fall 2016 collection, and range in price from $68 to $95 per piece. Items include jeans, tops, scarves, hats and purses.
“We put together a full, head-to-toe look,” says Nicole, noting her customers range in age from 25 to 60. “At the event, (guests) get first dibs before the clothes hit the online store.”
When Kate was born, she had a full head of black hair. But by the time she was 2 1/2, she had patchy, bald spots on her head. There is a possibility the condition will reverse itself, but Kate could also go her whole life without hair.
“If I can look at the blessing, it’s that she was so young when it started. She doesn’t even remember having hair,” says Nicole. “We are adamant in explaining that’s how God made her, and that is what makes her special. Other people have other things that make them special.”
Tickets are $50 each and 100 per cent of that goes to the foundation. There is also a silent auction, and premium swag bags for guests. The Sweet (Jolie) fundraiser also includes other Edmonton companies as partners, such as Anchored Collective, which is making custom necklaces hand-stamped with the word “brave.” Love Pizza is another partner, and is donating a dollar from every pizza sold at the shop until Sept. 18.
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