This White Shirt can help end Ovarian Cancer

As we embark on the 2026 Witchery White Shirt Campaign in partnership with the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation (OCRF), we are proud to have contributed $17.9 million to date in support of ovarian cancer research in Australia. Importantly, 100% of the gross proceeds from every OCRF White Shirt go directly to the OCRF to help fund research focused on preventing, detecting and improving the treatment of ovarian cancer.

Now in its 18th year, the funds raised through the Witchery White Shirt Campaign have been instrumental in enabling the OCRF to support promising research projects across Australia, raise awareness, and advocate to the government on behalf of future generations of women, girls and their families.

The Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation is the largest independent funder of ovarian cancer research in Australia and is currently supporting 18 projects across 10 institutions nationwide.

The Witchery White Shirt Campaign has played a key role in the OCRF’s impact, including:

• Distributing over $33 million to more than 60 research projects since 2000

• Five OCRF-funded breakthroughs, to date, have progressed to clinical trials in Australia, and across the world.

• Proceeds from Witchery White Shirts directly support OCRF’s work, helping drive progress toward earlier detection and better treatments.

Together, we remain committed to funding research and driving meaningful change for women and families across Australia.

We are proud to partner with St. Agni for the 2026 Witchery White Shirt Campaign. This year, St Agni Founder and Creative Director Lara Fells has designed three signature white shirts in support of the initiative.

For Lara, the collaboration marks a meaningful full-circle moment. Before founding her own label, she spent six years as Store Manager of the Witchery Byron Bay boutique, an experience that shaped her perspective on considered design, quality craftsmanship and fashion with purpose.

At St Agni, a commitment to philanthropic partnerships is woven into the fabric of the brand. For this reason, the St Agni x Witchery collaboration felt both natural and deeply aligned.

- Lara Fells, St. Agni

• In Australia, ovarian cancer is now considered a common cancer for women, with almost 2,000 new cases diagnosed each year. Less than half of these women will be alive in five years.

• Although ovarian cancer most commonly occurs in older women, about 40 per cent of cases are diagnosed in women under 60, and, over the past two decades, cases in women under 45 have risen by 61 per cent (or 30% in real terms, adjusted for population growth).

• The five-year survival rate of 49% sits well below that of most other cancers.

• One of the biggest challenges is that symptoms are often vague and easily mistaken for less serious conditions. This means too many people are diagnosed late, when treatment is more difficult, and recurrence is common.

• A pap smear or cervical screening test does not detect ovarian cancer (only cervical).

• 70 percent of ovarian cancer cases are detected at an advanced stage, when treatments are less effective and recurrence is common. Five-year survival rates for advanced disease are less than 30%.

• For the 30 per cent of cases that are picked up in the early stages, survival is 90% - which is why symptom awareness matters, and why we need early detection tests.

The signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer are often vague or non-specific in the early stages, which is why it is often diagnosed late, when the disease has progressed to an advanced stage, where treatment is more difficult

Ovarian cancer has four main symptoms:

• Bloating

• Feeling full more quickly

• Needing to urinate more frequently

• Abdominal pain

Other symptoms can include indigestion, back pain, extreme tiredness for no obvious reason, a change in bowel habits (going more often than usual or less frequently), postmenopausal vaginal bleeding, and unexplained weight loss.

It is important to remember that these symptoms can be caused by other, less serious medical conditions. However, if symptoms are persistent, severe, frequent, or out of the ordinary, you should make an appointment with your GP.