Stella McCartney and Alicia Keys are working together to raise awareness of breast cancer prevention through early detection.
McCartney has designed a bold pink lingerie set called Ophelia Whistling to honour Breast Cancer Awareness month, which starts on 1 October.
Keys is modelling the delicately beautiful design.
Both designer and musician sat down to discuss their very personal connection to the cause.
With the staggering statistic that a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every 19 seconds, it’s not difficult to see why this would be a concern even for A-listers like McCartney and Keys.
Both their mothers were diagnosed with breast cancer. While Keys’ mum is a survivor, McCartney’s lost her battle 19 years ago - just three years after diagnosis.
“I’ve never really shared this but my mother is a breast cancer survivor,” Keys shared on Instagram.
“Breast cancer affects us all, and that’s why I’m joining my sis @stellamccartney in starting a conversation and encouraging every woman to go get checked.”
Early detection is crucially important to McCartney.
“It’s really hard because you think, ’I’ve got to make sure I don’t get cancer for the sake of my kids, and I’m going to make sure my sister doesn’t get it for the sake of her kids,” she said in a 2012 interview with the Sun.
Thus, every year, Stella McCartney honours Breast Cancer Awareness month with support from her brand and this year, icon Alicia Keys is the face of that endeavour.
Keys spoke further about her motivation for spreading the message. As a woman of colour, awareness about the importance of early detection is vital.
She told Harper’s Bazaar: “I just recently learned that African-American women have a 42% higher rate of mortality from breast cancer than Caucasian women, in part because we don’t always have the opportunity to get an early diagnosis or the right kind of treatment.”
The campaign also highlights the great work done by Memorial Sloan Kettering Breast Examination Center of Harlem, to which proceeds of McCartney’s design will go. Proceeds will also go to the Linda McCartney Centre in Liverpool.
The Stella McCartney lingerie set will drop on 1 October and will be available via www.stellamccartney.com.