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Whether small-chested or well-endowed, any woman can recognize the challenges of bra shopping; it’s a personal and potentially stressful endeavor. For breast cancer survivor Dana Donofree, the task of finding a confidence-boosting design that fit was more than just bothersome — it proved to be almost impossible.
“After breast reconstruction, the overall shape of your breast is altered, which can make shopping for a traditional underwire bra extremely difficult,” she tells us. “Actually, to wear a bra without underwire is most comfortable after the surgery, and that leaves you with limited options, such as sports bras and camisoles.” Instead of settling for either of those solutions, Donofree came up with her own.
The AnaOno line is Dana’s response to the limited underwear options available to her and her fellow survivors. With the collection, she aims to replace a woman's entire intimates drawer with styles that suit all of her needs, whether that's spending 14 hours in meetings, training for a triathlon, or sauntering around her apartment nearly naked. “It took a really long time for me to start to feel like my new ‘Dana,’ and a lot of that evolved around my appearance,” says the designer, who attended the Savannah College of Art and Design, of the time after her bilateral mastectomy.
The collection boasts a small selection of bras that are lacy, feminine, and made specifically for women who have undergone a variety of different surgeries related to breast cancer. After a successful launch, Dana says that she's looking forward to extending to swim in 2016. “When a woman tries on the bra, and we share tears of joy together in the fitting room," she says, "and it's the first time she has felt sexy since her surgery, that is what it is all for! Cancer does NOT get to take that away from us.”
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