The Very Good Bra: A Fully Compostable Lingerie Brand
Credits: Robyn Lawley – model, Carlotta Moye – photographer, Wayne Chick – makeup
By ESTELLE PULESTON
Created in Australia by Stephanie Devine, The Very Good Bra is a very good bra brand indeed: a completely plastic-free bra, available in ‘proper’ bra sizes up to US H cups.
In 2006, while working in a completely unrelated industry, Devine was diagnosed with breast cancer. Wanting to switch to wirefree, natural-fiber bras, she realized she wasn’t able to find anything available in band-cup sizing except for maternity bras (having just been told she’d never have children after chemotherapy). It was an experience that really stuck with her and six years later, after her treatment was complete, she set about developing her own solution.
Devine’s first lingerie brand was dedicated to stylish wirefree bras with fantastic support, and it was a brand that I personally adored (and still wear to this day!). However, entering the fashion world was an eye-opening experience for Devine about the sheer level of textile waste in the lingerie industry. The more she learned, the more she wanted to tackle this new-found problem as well, and so she eventually shut the doors on her first lingerie company in order to focus on creating her second.
The Very Good Bra was launched in 2018 via a Kickstarter campaign that surpassed its funding goal by almost 250%. Customers were calling out for more sustainable options, and here was the most sustainable of them all: a bra that could break down to nothing in a home compost heap, from its tree rubber elastic straps to its biodegradable sewing thread.
The brand may have started off with a single design, but today it offers a few different shape options and a range of colors and prints, as well as matching bottoms and a sleep/lounge wear collection. Recently selected as the Underwear category winner in the Marie Claire Sustainability Awards 2024, it is still a fully underwire-free brand but many designs now come with a V-wire at the front, which enhances shaping and separation without affecting the comfort factor.
As for fabrics, Devine selected a combination of super-soft Tencel (made from wood pulp) and organic cotton. Labels are printed onto the interior of bras and briefs using Oeko-Tex certified inks, and any metal hardware has been specially selected to not leach toxins when the bra is discarded at the end of its lifespan.
More recent additions to the range include a cotton bra with an elasticated (natural rubber, of course) underband for a more flexible fit, and the world’s first 100% compostable nursing bra, which has simple pull-away cups and multiple loops at the side to adjust the band size, so that it grows or shrinks with you as your body changes.
Devine now has her sights set on finding other such lingerie categories where she can offer a 100% compostable alternative. “I like to feel that for every Very Good Bra we sell, we potentially save its toxic, conventional equivalent from landfill,” she told me, “Every 10,000 bras we sell saves 1,000kg from landfill, and 9kg of micro plastics from our oceans through laundering.”
She’s working with a 200-year-old lace factory in Germany to develop 100% organic cotton and 100% Tencel laces, for those who want their lingerie to be sustainable yet also fancy. And she’s working hard to find a natural padding option that won’t shrink – something that’s easier said than done! But little by little, Devine and The Very Good Bra are absolutely changing the lingerie industry for the better.
The Very Good Bra designs cover US sizes 30C to 36H and 38F, plus XS-XL in coordinates. Bras are priced from $58-$64, briefs from $26-$32 and sleepwear from $42-$84 (prices in US dollars).
Contact information:
Website: https://www.theverygoodbra.com/
Instagram: @theverygoodbra
Email: hello@theverygoodbra.com
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