An Uplifting Conversation with LaJean Lawson
Today, I had the opportunity to speak with a truly amazing woman, Dr. LaJean Lawson, aptly known as Dr. Sports Bra. A creative, driven, and inclusive researcher and product developer, LaJean aims to “understand anatomy and movement of breasts of all sizes.”
In her seminal works such as “Selected Sports Bras: A Biomechanical Analysis of Breast Motion While Jogging” and “Selected Sports Bras: Comparisons of Comfort and Support,” Lawson has paved the way for innovation and inclusivity through a deep-dive on one of the most elusive and complex puzzles in apparel, the ergonomics of the sports bra.
In my PhD research, I had the amazing opportunity to follow my passion and study a method of specialized fabric modification through 3D printing, a project sponsored by the makers of Playtex, Maidenform, and Champion, HanesBrands Inc. This technology is ideal for bra design as it allows for specific and precise application of polymer and thus possibilities for very specialized design with new materials. In the final stage of the research, we created sports bra prototypes to test relationships between 3D printed bra design elements.
Anyway, what I am trying to say is that I am a huge nerd about this stuff, too.
“We need to fit on real people.”
So, when we got the chance to put our minds together on this subject, amazing conversation inevitably ensued. Dr. Lawson’s 39 years of experience working with the human form has bestowed upon her a intimate knowledge of the interaction between bra design and wearer satisfaction.
“We need to fit on real people,” she stressed. Although dress form companies, such as Alvanon, do amazing work through physical realizations of human body measurements, these forms can’t actually give feedback like real people do. Also, 99.999% of us are not dressed in the morning by an assistant like the posh royal characters of The Crown. We often have these pesky features such as arms, legs, and a head, which can really get in the way when trying to don the garment. We have soft flesh that pops out in weird ways, we have sensitive skin, and we sweat.
Fit and wear testing can be resource and time intensive, however, so Lawson recommends prioritizing fitting in the middle of the size range (meaning to fit a medium rather than a small or a large) to get a better picture of the range of fit issues. It is also critical to follow up by testing fit and function on real bodies throughout the entire size range
Fit, the delicate system that has evaded designers for the entire history of textiles in apparel (so, like always). Without which McQueen, De La Renta, and Balenciaga (Cristobal Balenciaga) would not have their claim to fame. The complex puzzle is also the reason behind our elaborate sizing system (does anyone really know their “sister size”?) We could see the best bra in the world, but if it doesn’t fit right, we just can’t make it work. This is a distinguishing problem with the bra. When you buy a new Mazda you don’t say, “Well the problem is I would keep it but my legs are hanging out the side.”
“The key is to find materials that fit more people with less SKU’s.”
To deal with this, we end up making the garment in a wide range of cup and band sizes (which is not exactly related to breast volume, but that’s a different blog post). This results in a lot of waste. Manufacturing waste, selling waste, and fit issues.
“The key,” our bra expert states, “is to find materials that fit more people with less SKU’s.” This is where my materials-focused mind lights up. We need to engineer the stress-strain curve to provide targeted support (stress) at increased sizes (strain).
In this way, we can optimize fit, and as a result, likeability. If more people feel good in their bras, they won’t throw them away and replace them with another short-lived product. Through precise materials engineering, we can increase manufacturability and likeability of the product while reducing negative environmental impact. Quality is an amazing path to sustainability.
Another element of fit we touched on is the interaction between design elements. I brought this up because I noticed an interesting trend in my data. Pressure in certain regions of the body did not increase linearly with design element change, rather, there seemed to be an interaction (a statistical term meaning that one factor influences the outcome of another factor) between the straps, the band, and the underwire.
And it turns out that Dr. Lawson has seen this time and time again in her work. “There needs to be a balance between all design elements,” she states, pointing to examples where the bra is rigid in the front and extremely stretchable in the back. This decreases comfort and does not allow either element to function as it was intended, possibly resulting in poor comfort or support.
Thanks to the ingenuity of Dr. LaJean Lawson, the apparel industry has a wealth of knowledge to draw from in order to design well-fitting bras which encourages movement for the bra wearer, improving public health.
Long Story Short: Improving bra fit and comfort increases the health and happiness of bra wearers and can lead to a more sustainable future for the textile industry.
