FAST FASHION OFTEN PRIORITISES SPEED OVER SUBSTANCE, BREETH OFFERS A REFRESHINGLY CONSIDERED ALTERNATIVE. BORN FROM A MOMENT OF DISCOMFORT AND CLARITY, THE BRAND IS THE BRAINCHILD OF MARC — A CONSTRUCTION AND ENGINEERING PROFESSIONAL TURNED FASHION INNOVATOR — WHO SET OUT TO REIMAGINE EVERYDAY CLOTHING THROUGH THE LENS OF WELLNESS, SUSTAINABILITY, AND UNCOMPROMISING DESIGN.

The spark for BREETH came mid-flight. “I was sitting on an airplane from Cape Town to Johannesburg with my family,” Marc recalls. “I had to sanitise the seat tray-table and arm rests too. Sitting in the heat, wearing a plastic mask, spraying everything — it all became overwhelming.” At one point, he removed the mask, only for his daughter to plead with him to put it back on for his own safety. “That was the moment I realised: there had to be a better way. A way to live and move more freely, more healthily. That’s when the idea for BREETH started forming.” Marc has a condition which requires long term immune-compromising medication, and thus— the pandemic was a time of particular awareness for him and his family. It was this hyper-awareness of hygiene, combined with the emotional toll of constantly managing risk, that pushed Marc to reimagine how clothing should be a tool to protect ourselves in public spaces.

What began as a response to a specific frustration — the discomfort of synthetic face mask— evolved into a full-scale reimagining of clothing and wearable design. Marc’s background in construction gave him a unique edge. “When building high-end structures, you begin with the end result in mind — how it will perform, how it will live,” he explains. “I applied that same principle to clothing. You don’t build a Rolls-Royce with pirate parts — so why accept subpar materials in garments that live on our skin?”

Function and feeling are both at the core of BREETH. But Marc is quick to highlight the deeply collaborative nature of the journey. “Without my family, I wouldn’t have had the emotional backing to take this leap of faith,” he shares.“My wife brings a worldly perspective on quality and experience, while my daughter has this innate sense of how her generation communicates and feels. I look at my wife and daughter and see both the future but the past. I think about the quality of life the younger generation has not experienced in clothing comfort and design, and how society has done them a big injustice in not teaching what good old fashion values are; time, quality and craftsmanship.”

This intergenerational perspective also informs BREETH’s commitment to sustainability as a guiding philosophy. “Responsible fashion isn’t a rejection of all synthetics,” Marc notes. “We have invented some incredible materials and products to use in our world and if they are managed and used on a small scale would benefit all including our environment and health. The problem is that the balance has been lost and the scale always tips to favour profit driven motives.” For Marc, true sustainability considers every layer: from the health of the farmers and garment makers to the long-term experience of the wearer. 

At its core, BREETH is a resistance against disposability — and a return to values that matter: time, craft, quality, and care. “If you’ve never driven a Porsche, and only ever driven a Kia, how would you know what’s possible?” Marc asks. “BREETH is luxury in that it’s about raising the baseline. It’s about reminding people what real comfort, health, and design integrity feel like.”

And with that, BREETH is now a South African leader of skin-kind fashion — a prescient movement for the future.