Frustrated consumers can be the most promising of producers and this is a fact often seen in the clothing industry.
For years, innovative products have been popping up in stores and it’s all because their founders recognized a need for them while shopping. Nubian Skin, for example, was developed by entrepreneur Ade Hassan. She thought of her business because she realized that there was a lack of “nude” hosieries for people of color. Then there’s Kindred Bravely which produces clothing that’s aims to be both comfortable and beautiful. Its conceptualization began when its co-founder Deeanne Akerson was nursing her one-year-old and she couldn’t find pajamas that were both comfortable and cute. Throughout the clothing business, former customers are solving problems on their own and this is especially apparent when it comes to nursing bras.
The first nursing bra was invented and patented by Albert A. Glasser in 1943. It looked like a regular bra with the addition of a flap for coverage. It has evolved since, however, and it’s partly because of the businesses of women who needed nursing bras themselves.
Lunnie
Lunnie isn’t a project of just one mom.
On paper, it was founded by Sarah Kallile. She was pregnant with her youngest when she thought of putting her own spin on the nursing bra. However, to develop it, she needed help and got lots of it.
Surveying more than 300 moms, Kallile learned that around 84 percent of them were unhappy with the nursing bras available on the market. This pushed her to seek the help of her mom who was a former garment industry professional. Together they put together the first prototype of her product which was tested by the women she surveyed.
In March 2022, Kallile successfully launched Lunnie (an amalgam of her daughters’ names, Lucy and Annie.) The nursing bras sold out immediately despite the company not having a marketing budget and this is due to the Lunnie Hive community—the same group of women who helped her develop the idea.
The way Kallile sees it, Lunnie isn’t hers alone, but a creation made possible by other moms as well. “We designed something together that is built to last and make moms feel powerful and strong, inside and out,” she said in an interview with Dayton Daily News.
The Very Good Bra
In many cases, a company’s name is not just there to identify a business; it’s also there to make a promise. The Very Good Bra, for instance, is a name chosen for a brand that wants to provide high quality products and thus far, the people behind it have shown much dedication to that vow.
The Very Good Bra, founded by Stephanie Devine in May 2018, specializes in creating undergarments using only botanically sourced materials like organic cotton, natural rubber and cellulose sewing thread. This means that all The Very Good Bra products are completely chemical-free since no toxins are created through the whole process of manufacturing them.
The idea of creating an eco-friendly bra came about when Devine was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006. She was told then to find a non-wire bra with a proper cup size made with natural fibers to help her get through treatment. Unable to find one, Devine decided to create her own. The fact that Devine’s bras sold out within 30 days after their launch showed that a lot of women are willing to make a more environmentally-conscious choice when it comes to underwear. They only need to be provided with such choices. Devine did just that.
While there are a number of brands that are eco-friendly, The Very Good Bra prides itself as 100% toxin and waste free. This is highlighted by an experiment in 2019 which showed one of the company’s bras eaten in a worm farm after eight weeks. Talk about leaving no post-consumer waste. But, aside from its environmentally friendly features, The Very Good Nursing Bra also features a wrap-over style and a pull-down cup for feeding. It also provides added comfort to the wearer since it is adjustable by up to 6 cm on each side of the bra to cater to all shapes and sizes.
With these innovations in mind, it is clear the company really wants to live up to its name.
AVYN
In 2019, Lauren Woodworth and Chandler Lettin—both pregnant at the time—were searching high and low for nursing bras that they actually liked. They couldn’t find any. Some were matronly, others had too much lace, and most were just uncomfortable. So they decided to create their own.
AVYN is the result of their efforts. Known for having athletic yet sophisticated styles of nursing bras, the company’s products can be worn for work, play, nursing or pumping. Woodworth and Lettin believe that while motherhood changes a lot of things in a woman’s life, it should not change one’s style. For them, when a woman feels good about herself, she is reminded of what an incredible human being she is and that empowers her to face her challenges. This is especially needed by nursing moms.
Cake Maternity
For Tracey Montford, comfort, functionality and style are the ingredients to good maternity and nursing wear. That is why she used all of them to make her brand Cake Maternity.
Launched in 2007, Cake Maternity creates bras that are made to support women through their journeys as moms. But, creating beautiful and functional pieces isn’t the only goal of her company. It also works to advocate for women in various fronts.
For starters, Cake Maternity’s workplace is a mom-friendly environment where mothers have flexible work arrangements. The company also supports a handful of charities and donates their samples and discontinued styles to women around the world. Meanwhile, it also pushes a no image editing policy which means all photos used in their marketing materials are of women without enhancements from any image-editing software. This is because the company believes that “motherhood is a beautiful thing and [their] bodies should be worn proudly for the incredible things they have achieved.”
With these in place, the company found the perfect recipe to win a number of recognitions including the 2011 Best Maternity Lingerie Brand by the UK Lingerie Awards.
From facing problems to providing solutions
It is a basic business principle that in order for a product to succeed, it must meet a demand. For years, many brands have stepped forward to make money off of the needs of women and many have failed because they never truly understood those needs. This is a scenario that has been seen in the bra business a number of times.
There are those, however, that succeed and they do so because of their founders—women who have lived through the problems they are trying to solve; women who have taken it upon themselves to provide the kind of support they couldn’t get when they needed it.
