Stella McCartney has remembered her late mother Linda on her birthday by unveiling a lingerie set to raise awareness of breast cancer.

The designer’s mother, the wife of Beatles star Sir Paul McCartney, died in 1998 at the age of 56 after battling the disease for three years.

She would have turned 77 on September 24.

Stella shared a black and white image of Linda on Instagram to mark the day, and wrote: “This light guided me through my childhood years and into the woman I am today…

“She is with me and in all I do, a true change agent that was so ahead of her time that she will never truly have known how she inspired so many people… a naturally beautiful, kind and loving woman… I celebrate you mum.

“Every single day in my children’s faces and innocence I see you and I will hold you in my heart on this day, your birthday… lovely Linda, you are loved and missed more than I could ever put into words xx.”

She later unveiled the new lingerie set, called Rose Romancing, modelled by Modern Family actress Sofia Vergara.

A post on Stella’s Twitter page said: “@SofiaVergara shows her support in our annual #BreastCancerAwareness campaign, wearing the “Rose Romancing” lingerie set as a reminder to keep healthy and get checked regularly. Launching today on the birthday of Stella’s mother, Linda McCartney to benefit leading charities.”

A second tweet added: “This lingerie set is meant to be something beautiful to remind us to get checked, having pride as a woman and empowering ourselves to know our body. Love it and celebrate it.

“@SofiaVergara joins with us in our campaign to raise awareness and break the taboos about breast cancer.”

The set will benefit leading charities and support centres worldwide, including the Linda McCartney Centre in Liverpool, the Hello Beautiful Foundation in London, and Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York, to support their work in providing the most advanced early detection programmes and treatments for patients with breast cancer.