“I simply need some clothes that I can put on with the physique I’ve, and if nobody else goes to make it, then I’ll,” says award-winning architect and now lingerie designer Katy Marks. 

Marks (pictured above, proper) is likely one of the 14,850 ladies who endure a mastectomy yearly, and among the many two-thirds who select to not endure a reconstruction. 

Now the Liverpool-born most cancers survivor has turned her architectural eye to a really completely different engineering problem by designing a one-cup bra for post-surgery, uneven our bodies.  

‘Uno’ is the outcome, and in addition to providing bras in inclusive sizes as much as FF/G cup, Marks plans to launch open-source patterns for obtain, enabling ladies the world over to reap the benefits of her revolutionary design – no matter their funds. 

“In some unspecified time in the future I checked out myself within the mirror and thought: ‘I simply should study to love my physique’,” Marks says as she remembers crying in altering rooms whereas battling the truth of getting one breast.  

“I realised that so many ladies are hiding: carrying dishevelled T-shirts and uncomfortable prosthetics – feeling like they should look ‘regular’ to be a lady.” 

Marks discovered most post-op lingerie was unsupportive or had options that irritated scar tissue. Furthermore, she was struck by the way it was virtually at all times designed to hide the lack of a breast within the service of societal magnificence norms. 

Reframing lingerie design as ‘structure for the physique’ she set about creating reasonably priced, accessible bras that remember asymmetry, reasoning that the lack of a breast ought to by no means equate to the lack of female id. The ethos has been prolonged to a variety of beachwear with one-cup bikinis comprised of recycled ocean plastics. 

“Creating Uno has made me really feel that it’s doable to look within the mirror once more and really feel like myself,” Marks added.

Photos: Tara Darby