Melanoma Canada is getting into the swimwear market to help people think early and often about cancer detection.

Working with agency No Fixed Address, the non-profit created what it describes as the first-ever wearable intended to educate the public about skin cancer, which is diagnosed in about 80,000 people annually in Canada.

The custom pattern on the “Self-Assessment Suit” is inspired by the ABCDEs, five characteristics people should look for when assessing marks on their skin for melanoma: asymmetry, border, color, diameter and evolving. But using an eye-catching, ’90s-era pastel design to represent those characteristics is meant to bring them to a place where skin health should be top of mind, as well as communicate them in a more engaging way.

“We wanted to bring the tool people can check themselves out of the doctor’s office,” explains Rena Menkes Hula, VP and group creative director at No Fixed Address. “The idea to use design to reimagine a very effective diagnostic tool in the right place felt like a fresh and natural way to connect with our target audience and make them look.”

The suits will be made available through a “merch drop” on Melanoma Canada’s Instagram page.

Historically, Melanoma Canada’s message was straightforward and positioned around simply “checking yourself,” Menkes Hula says, and this thematically ties into that notion.

The ABCDEs design featured on the “Self Assessment Suit” will also be displayed on digital out-of-home signage during Melanoma Awareness Month in May at Toronto’s Yonge-Dundas Square.

Most of Melanoma Canada’s efforts are on the ground through things like mobile health clinics and engaging with dermatologists’ offices, and this represents one of the larger advertising efforts it has undertaken. There is, however, a website linked to a “mole mobile,” launching May 2, a remote check-in mechanism billed as Canada’s first mobile skin cancer screening unit, in partnership with the Canadian Dermatology Association.

Melanoma is one of the most common cancer types in young adults aged 15 to 29. Melanoma diagnoses are rising 3% year over year, and during the pandemic, there were 25% fewer biopsies being conducted, increasing later-stage diagnoses.