The bra industry is worth billions of dollars a year, yet designs haven't changed a lot since the modern bra came into common use in the early 20th century. Datshiane Navanayagam talks to a sports bra designer from Wales and a breast cancer survivor in the US about their innovative new designs. After a diagnosis of breast cancer in her late 20’s, Dana Donofree took her own experience of struggling to find a bra that was comfortable and pretty to found her own company, AnaOno. With a background in fashion design and talking to many women in the breast cancer community she's (re)designing intimates for those that have undergone surgery. Mari Thomas-Welland used to work as a sports bra performance tester, testing the performance of sports bras for some of the biggest brands under laboratory conditions. After realising that, despite her job, she still couldn't find her perfect sports bra she decided to design her own and founded her company, Maaree. They're now the official bra supplier to the Welsh rugby team. Produced by Jane Thurlow (Image: (L) Dana Donofree credit AnaOno LCC. (R) Mari Thomas-Welland credit Mari Thomas-Welland.)
Hello and welcome to the conversation, the program that amplifies women's voices from around the world.
I'm Dashiani Navanayagam.
Today we're looking at a garment that's often either hidden away or overtly sexualized.
But either way, it's one that many women around the world will wear for almost every day of their adult lives.
In fact, it's estimated that the bra industry is worth billions of dollars a year.
Today I'm speaking to two women whose personal experiences inspire them to launch their own versions of the bra they felt was missing from the market.
Mary Thomas Welland worked as a sports bra performance tester for some of the biggest brands when she realized the perfect sports bra didnt exist.
She designed her own and is now the official supplier to the welsh rugby team.
And Dana Donofrey used her own experience of breast cancer to design and manufacture bras that were both comfortable and beautiful for those who've undergone breast surgery.
Welcome to you both.
Thank you so much for having me.
Absolutely, thank you.
Getting your first bra for many girls and young women is a defining moment.
It often happens in the middle of puberty, changing hormones, which can be difficult for most people.
Dana, what was your first experience of getting a bra?
This is such an interesting question because I can't even really say I have an impactful moment of my first bra and mostly because I grew up as a dancer.
So I started dancing when I was three years old, so my entire life was living in spandex.
It just felt so simple and organic to jump my life into a sports brawl instead of just a leotard.
And I immediately went from school to dance and danced to school.
And it was such a huge part of my wardrobe that I never even gave it two thoughts.