Inspired by breast cancer
When Dana Donofree had a bilateral mastectomy and implant reconstruction after her breast cancer diagnosis in 2010, the then 27-year-old fashion designer discovered only medical and uncomfortable bras catering to women with the disease.
Such frustrations led Donofree to launch her lingerie company Anaono in 2014, aimed primarily for women who had breast cancer and had undergone some type of surgery or radiation treatment. The Philadelphia-based company now offers a variety of wireless bras for women who had breast reconstruction, a mastectomy or lumpectomy because Donofree says every surgery yields different results. The collection, which also includes post-surgery loungewear, is sold at Soma, online lingerie retailer Third Love and more recently Nordstrom online.
AP interviewed Donofree about the gap she is filling and how her first runway show, which featured breast cancer survivors as models, was a breakthrough moment, among other topics.
What kind of bras for breast cancer survivors were available before you started Anaono?
Matronly, utilitarian...the quintessential grandma bra.
What was the initial reaction from stores?
Every time I went out and I traveled, I would look up all of the specialty lingerie stores in that city, and I would look up all of the plastic surgeons specializing in breast cancer reconstruction. And in doing that, getting exposed to not just stores and specialty boutiques and plastic surgeons and medical practices, I realized just how disjointed the conversation was about what sort of surgeries we were having and what they were doing to our bodies.
What was your breakthrough moment? We had an opportunity to go on a global stage at New York Fashion Week (in 2017). You could see what a body looked like without breasts, or you could see what a body looked like without nipples, because this was that harsh reality that people just didn’t understand unless you had been through it. We can show the world what cancer really looks like. That was a pivotal moment where we started changing the conversation.
What progress has the lingerie industry made in catering to breast cancer survivors?
There’s been a big shift in our movement especially in the last decade. We stepped out as one of the first lingerie brands using real people and bras and underwear. It’s probably the hardest thing to showcase in a model. What we’re still missing is absolute inclusion now. One in eight women are diagnosed with breast cancer. This is a substantial amount of people that don’t have breasts or might only have one breast or have rebuilt their breast.