Your chance to at least look like part of this picture is now ready and waiting for you on Kickstarter. And two things are guaranteed. Firstly you'll be the owner of the world's first zero-waste designer bra and secondly, your bra will literally grow a tree when you are done with it. (Or if say, you accidentally fling it out the window into the garden some frenzied Friday night, it's technically not litter, it's fertiliser.) The brainchild of Sydney lingerie designer, Stephanie Devine from Bondi Beach, The Very Good Bra, is go on Kickstarter for $75 a piece and is a truly beautiful piece of zero-waste design and engineering.The Zero Waste Bra is made out of the botanical fibre Tencel. Tencel is made from Eucalyptus trees and apart from requiring only a fraction of the water that cotton does to manufacture, it regulates absorption, has strong anti bacterial properties and also feels amazing on your skin.
Tencel is just the start of the incredible closed loop thought that has gone into this product. For anyone concerned that buying this bra means getting a smoothed out bit of gum tree with no style, don't fret. Stephanie might be a treehugger (as a result of a dance with breast cancer), but she is also a lingerie designer.And that's where design and engineering really comes together and why we think every woman should have this bra. STEPHANIE HAS THOUGHT THROUGH THE DESIGN RIGHT ACROSS EVERY MATERIAL COMPONENT, FROM EVERY ANGLE - PLANET, PERSONAL COMFORT AND STYLE. IF WE SOUND LIKE BIG FANS, HOPEFULLY IT'S PRETTY OBVIOUS WHY. IT'S THIS KIND OF INNOVATION THAT IS SO IMPORTANT TO THE ECO MOVEMENT GLOBALLY.
You might have to hang around a bit if you want a tree from your bra as big as the one in the top pic. Alternatively, this is what Stephanie planted with one of her tester bras, which is certainly more my speed.
If (and this is a legitimate thing) you are a closet activist or got knocked back by the Sea Shepherd or maybe can't get to a tour with The Orangutan Project this year, this bra has the potential to make you a new age activist.You can simply just get one or two and take a stand for the planet, knowing that one day if you are ever in New Zealand, the Cardrona Bra Fence fence awaits you.Hanging your old The Very Good Bra on that fence would be making a statement for women and the environment. Imagine if it was lined with The Very Good Bra bras. All these nylon numbers would have composted by now - into the ground, grown some grass, fed the sheep behind the fence and delivered up a few woolly jumpers to keep locals warm. Now that is a good investment in the planet.
The Very Good Bra is raising $20,000 on Kickstarter.