Underwear to encourage women to feel feminine after breast surgery

Ciara Donlon is the driving force behind textiles start-up, Theya Lingerie, which produces specialist underwear for women who have undergone breast surgery.

Donlon got the idea for her new business while running her own lingerie shop in Dublin. “I saw customers struggling to find underwear that was comfortable to wear after surgery and during radiotherapy treatment,” she says. “Our competitors view bras as something functional to hold up prostheses. We view them as something that should make women feel feminine at this difficult time in their lives.”

Donlon started work on her idea in 2012 when she spent time with a focus group of 40 women who had undergone breast surgery. This research received feasibility funding under Enterprise Ireland’s female entrepreneurship initiative.

Armed with a clear idea of what she wanted to achieve, Donlon set about finding someone who could help her realise her designs and a company that could make a set of samples. She came up against a brick wall on both.

"There was nobody in Ireland who could make the samples and despite going around all of the colleges with fashion courses I couldn't find anyone to work with me on the design. This was incredibly frustrating at the time," she says.

The breakthrough came when she found lingerie designer Kelly Lakin on Linkedin.

“Kelly has been designing lingerie for over 20 years and knows her way around the industry. She had our first set of samples made in China and we used them to refine our products with a focus group in the UK,” Donlon says.

“Breast cancer affects nearly two million women worldwide and is on the rise. This, combined with very positive reaction to our samples convinced me there was a gap in the market. I am a risk-taker by nature and decided I was going to do this with or without outside help,” Donlan adds.

"However, we were fortunate in being approved as a high potential start-up by Enterprise Ireland while we also received funding from a private investor. It has cost around €100,000 to develop and launch the products."

The Theya range is wire- and seam-free for comfort and to avoid irritation. All of the products are made from a certified bamboo fabric that is gentle on the skin.

“Oeko-Tex is thermally regulating and 300 per cent more absorbent than cotton. In addition the bamboo fabric has antibacterial properties that assist with the healing process. The range, which is design protected and patent pending, can be worn directly after cancer or cosmetic surgery until the healing is complete,” Donlon says.

"A very important part of our ethos is to engage with women who have or have had breast cancer. To this end we are getting involved in our first clinical research study with the Arch (Applied Research in Connected Health) Centre at UCD, the Beacon Hospital and St James's Hospital."

Theya now employs four people and is based at Nova, UCD's innovation hub. The company will launch its range this month in Arnotts and the products will also be sold online. It exhibited at the recent Salon International de la Lingerie fair in Paris and this generated a number of international sales leads. The Theya range is being made in Greece and Bulgaria.

“We are not going head-to- head with the major lingerie brands as ours is a specialist product,” Donlon says.

“Lingerie companies in general tend not to spend a lot above the line. The effort goes into trade shows and educating buyers and fitters and you don’t need a huge marketing budget to do this. The next step for us is to develop postoperative swimwear, sportswear and nightwear.”