As many continue to celebrate Black History Month, lingerie brand Love & Nudes is shedding light on the inequalities of health care.

In an effort to highlight the staggering data around the high death rate in Black women with breast cancer, Love & Nudes launched the Stage Zero Collection, the world’s first breast cancer screening bras for Black women. The collection, made in partnership with creative agency McCann Toronto, is designed to help recognize breast cancer’s symptoms even before Stage 1 of the disease. The collection also aims to bring awareness to the disparity in the treatment of breast cancer for Black women.

The Stage Zero Collection was created in collaboration with breast surgical oncologist Dr. Mojola Omole, who also serves as chief medical officer on the project, and features bra inserts that visually and physically highlight the various ways breast cancer symptoms can appear in women of color. To demonstrate how consumers can touch, see and feel lumps on the bra, the brand and agency released a two-minute spot that shows what it feels like to feel a lump on the breast and the unique discoloration on each bra.

“Breast cancer diagnostic and educational tools are generally designed with only white skin in mind,” Chantal Carter, founder of Love & Nudes, said in a statement. “All the examination guides report redness as a sign of breast cancer. Unfortunately, discoloration doesn’t look the same on darker skin tones like mine.”

Advocating for change 

Other brands such as Thinx have shed light on the inequalities of health care in the Black community, but for Love & Nudes, the collection is just the start in improving outcomes for Black women experiencing breast cancer.

“There’s a need to push for change in current health policies,” Dr. Omole said in a statement. “Black women under 50 with breast cancer have a mortality rate double that of white women in the same age group. Because Black women are predisposed to early-onset triple-negative breast cancer, it’s clear that it’s time to change the guidelines on the breast cancer screening age.”

You can view the Stage Zero Collection spot on the brand’s YouTube channel.