Apr 24, 2016 | By Tess
Most people, especially women, are well aware that no two breasts are alike, even if they both belong to the same person. From size, placing, and shape, breasts are varied and unique. Why then do bra manufacturers only take into account two measurements when designing bras? If bras are determined by only cup size and band size, one can only imagine the number of people who fit them perfectly.
To help give women more options for bra sizing and to improve the comfort and support of each bra, Mona Zhang, a Princeton graduate, has decided to take matters into her own hands by creating custom sized bras based off of 3D models of women’s boobs.
“I’ve been wearing bras for half my life, like many women, and they never really fit,” she explains. “And one day, I was just like, why? This is ridiculous? How can anyone in the world define a woman’s bust in two variable?”
Zhang’s realization, that women’s boobs are as unique as snowflakes, led her to found her own company Bra Theory, where she is the “Head Bra Engineer”. The young company, which has as its aim the manufacturing of custom brasiers for women, will use modern technologies like 3D modeling and scanning as well as more traditional measuring techniques to create the perfect bra.
Zhang explains, “There’s a certain number of measurements that you need to take of a bust or chest to figure out what shape that is. What I’m doing today is creating a 3D model based on some of those measurements, and then I’m flattening it out into a bra that fits.”
By finding the custom measurements for not only cup and band size, but for shape, placement, and a number of other factors, Zhang is working on creating a perfectly fitting bra, one that is not mass manufactured but is made specific to the wearer. For now, she is fitting herself for the company’s first bra by using 35 custom measurements made with a flexible ruler and her engineering know-how. While the custom bra is still in its prototyping stage, and Zhang continues to 3D model her breasts to get the best possible prototype, she is confident she will soon find the right method for creating the perfect bra.
She says, “Right now, I’m trying to create one bra that fits one person and expand that to make a bra that fits anyone who comes to me.” Eventually, she is hoping to offer her services to women everywhere, and even envisions women being able to 3D scan themselves through a Bra Theory app which would additively manufacture the bras on a fabric 3D printer.
She continues, “My goal is to have a solution for bras where if a woman comes to me or anybody comes to me and wants a bra that fits them, I can say, ‘Here, this is the bra that’s made for you. It’s going to fit you, it’s going to support you, and it’s going to even fit the shape that you want it to. That’s the dream.”
In an age where customization is the mark of good quality, why not integrate it where it really counts, for breasts which are actually unique to each person. Though Bra Theory is still in its early stages and your custom bras can’t be ordered just yet, Zhang’s idea is a promising one. As she aptly concludes, “People are thinking, ‘Why don’t my boobs fit in anything? But that’s not the question they should be asking. They should be asking, ‘Why don’t bras fit me?’”
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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