By NICKY CHAMP
Argpphhfff.
That’s the sound I made when I learned lingerie giant, Victoria’s Secret had rejected a Change.org appeal to manufacture a special line of bras for women who have undergone mastectomies.
You may remember the petition went viral last month garnering 120,000 signatures in less than two weeks.
While things looked positive for Allana Maiden (who filed a petition) and her mum, Debbie Barrett after they were invited to meet with the Vice President of Limited Brands – Victoria’s Secret’s parent company – to discuss the possibility of having bras in their range fitted with prosthesis.
A spokesperson for Victoria’s Secret has now revealed they will not be making the specialty bras as it’s too ‘complicated’.
“Through our research, we have learned that fitting and selling mastectomy bras… in the right way… a way that is beneficial to women is complicated and truly a science,” Victoria’s Secret vice president of external communications, Tammy Roberts Myers, told ABC News in a statement.
“As a result, we believe that the best way for us to make an impact for our customers is to continue funding cancer research.”
Maiden has spoken of her “disappointment” by the company’s announcement.
“I understand her decision, that there is a science that goes [with these] bras, and it’s more complicated than a regular bra would be. But I felt that if anyone could do it, they could. They have everything in place,” Maiden told ABC News.
Given Angelina Jolie’s recent revelation that she underwent a preventative double mastectomy after learning she had the BRCA gene, Maiden is even more disheartened the ‘Survivor Bra’ line won’t go into production.
“She put the news out there that you can still be attractive after having breast cancer and mastectomy,” Maiden said.
“But a beautiful bra would have been a great thing to have, and now these bras are very limited.”
One in nine women will develop breast cancer by the age of 85.
In Australia, 34% of those women will have a mastectomy during the course of their treatment. That’s over 3% of the Australian female population. In the US, the figure is much higher, closer to 6%.
Victoria’s Secret – how can helping these women to feel beautiful and confident be ‘too complicated?’
Top Comments
I don't know why anyone expected Victoria's Secret to make mastectomy bras when they sell such a minimal amount of sizes in the first place. If a company can't even acknowledge that boobs do exist past a DD or an E cup, then they're not the right company to make mastectomy bras, which require far more expertise to make and FIT than a normal bra.
I feel like people making these petitions on change.org have their heart in the right place, but can sometimes back companies into a corner with people thinking up very unique petitions for change that can go beyond the companies capabilities, and then the company looks like the bad guy when they can't deliver.
It seems a little unfair that someone has made this petition with (I assume) absolutely no research into whether or not it is a realistic venture for the company. Then the petition takes off, again being signed by people with no idea into the bra manufacturing, then VS is made out to be the bad guy in this whole scenario.
I dunno, i'm just a little tired of some people who are not involved with the industry thinking that everything is possible when it's not.