Mães da Sé
Project: T-SEARCH
The outfit of visibility
In Brazil, 200 people go missing daily, yet this crisis remains largely invisible to society and policymakers. Traditional awareness methods, like missing persons flyers, fail to penetrate a media landscape dominated by entertainment and pop culture.
01The challenge
Families of the missing often depend on organizations like Mães da Sé for visibility and action, as there is a lack of structured governmental support. To make missing people visible and pressure for political change, there was a need to insert the issue into everyday life.
02The solution
To make missing people visible and pressure for political change, there was a need to insert the issue into everyday life. T-SEARCH®: THE #OUTFITOFVISIBILITY transformed Brazil’s streetwear trend — bootleg T-shirts — into a tool for activism.
Embedding activism into fashion
Instead of featuring pop icons, these shirts showcased AI-powered, age-progressed images of missing individuals — turning the purchasers into walking billboards and making the missing unmissable. By embedding missing people into mainstream culture through fashion, the campaign created organic visibility. The campaign launched on the International Day of the Disappeared to maximize relevance. Instead of buying media, we built it: through culture, influencers, and institutional engagement — turning visibility into credibility and dialogue into action.
03The impact
Transforming pop culture into policy change
235 million people were reached, with the campaign generating an estimated USD $5 million in earned media. During the exclusive campaign period, 5 missing people were found, which increased to 16 by April 2025. Ivanise Esperidião of Mães da Sé secured a permanent spot on the National Committee for Missing Children and currently have two bills under review by the government.
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