To mark International Lung Cancer Awareness Month, the Marie Keating Foundation and creative agency The Brill Building have launched a campaign that reinterprets fashion as a vehicle for empathy, prevention and activism. This is “The Breathless Collection”, a capsule of clothing and accessories designed to replicate the most common physical sensations of lung cancer patients before being diagnosed: fatigue, pressure, difficulty breathing and limitation of movement.

The collection includes a vest, scarf, tote bag, footwear and reusable cup, all made with heavy fabrics and restrictive cuts that mimic those early symptoms that are often mistaken for the effects of aging, a cold that lasts longer than usual, or everyday stress. This feeling of weight and exhaustion is intended to be a wake-up call not to underestimate signs such as persistent cough, chronic fatigue or respiratory changes.

Designed in collaboration with Irish scientists, patients and survivors, and with the support of stylist Cathy O’Connor and photographer Barry McCall, the collection will be activated throughout November in boutiques across Ireland and will be amplified on social media. Politicians, ambassadors and citizens are invited to “walk in the shoes” of those who live with this disease even without diagnosis. MP Catherine Ardagh, a strong supporter of cancer awareness, has taken part in the action: “At the end of the day, I literally felt the weight of what this campaign represents.”

Beyond the aesthetic provocation, the campaign has a concrete political goal: to demand that the Irish government urgently implement a national screening program for lung cancer. This disease continues to be the one that causes the most deaths in the country, above breast, prostate or colon cancers combined. Its five-year survival rate in Ireland is just 24%, a figure that could improve significantly with early detection.

Liz Yeates, CEO of the Marie Keating Foundation, sums it up this way: “We’re asking the public to sign our petition and share this message. Detecting lung cancer early saves lives. And this campaign offers a powerful way to understand why action is so urgent.”

In the past, this foundation has already launched campaigns that, in some cases, have been awarded, such as a poster that only revealed its message when coughing or a Snapchat filter to raise awareness about the risks of tobacco.