Yu Xiaodan has been engaged in underwear design for more than 20 years
In 2019, she was first exposed to:Breast cancer postoperative women are a group,It was found that there was no underwear on the market that tailored to their needs.
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Designer Yu Xiaodan
Data released by the National Cancer Center shows that:In China, breast cancer is the first common cause in women.There are about 1.5 million patients.In 2021 alone, there were 420,000 newly diagnosed cases of breast cancer,and growing at a rate of 20% per year.Patient after mastectomy,
There will be varying degrees of depression in the chest,However, the existing "prosthetic milk" on the market is basically a fixed size.And because of hormonal changes,They also face severe night sweats, hot flashes...
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"Jiang Hao", the first underwear designed for women after breast cancer surgery
Yu Xiaodan took on this challenge in his nearly sixtieth year. Three years later, "Jiang Hao" was born. Use the idea of "modularity" to let patients mix and match by themselves: An underwear is divided into left and right pieces, Distinguish the "affected side" from the sound side, Place a coaster of different thicknesses
in the affected side to achieve balance with the other side. Breathable fabrics and padding, It can help to sporadic hot flashes for a long time after surgery. We came to Yu Xiaodan's home and studio in Beijing. Talk to her about women, lingerie and "unseen needs".
01 1.5 million unseen women
In 2019, I was approached by a breast cancer doctor who said that his patient had no clothes to wear after surgery, that there was no one to design underwear for women after breast cancer surgery, and that he needed the help of a designer.
Mastectomy is currently the most common method of breast cancer treatment, and many women choose this radical method at the age of 30 to 50 to remove one or both breasts.
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Scars and depressions after surgery
After the excision, their bodies will have different degrees of depression, and after putting on underwear, it will suddenly become a pit, and some people's skin is a thin layer, like a piece of paper that will be broken when poked.
The most popular design on the market is actually the design of "prosthetic milk", and no one cares about the underwear itself, and only needs an opening to put in the prosthesis. This type of underwear is very uncomfortable, and the prosthesis weighing up to 800 grams makes it difficult for the patient's body to bear the load.
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Yu Xiaodan has three identities: a literary translator, translating the widely circulated "Lolita, the light of my life, the fire of my desire." My sin, my soul" (Nabokov's Lolita); Writer, published the novel "Lover of 1980" in 2009; In the 90s, she went to New York to study Xi fashion design, became a lingerie designer, and for 20 years, she has provided designs for Victoria's Secret, Maidenform and other brands. In 2015, she established her personal brand EMILY YU.
Being an underwear designer allows me to continue to be sensitive and sharp about women and their bodies, and this lack of breast cancer women has hit me.
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When I saw the clinical photos handed over by the doctor, to be honest, the moment was shocking. I decided to drop everything I had and started a long research period – what kind of underwear do breast cancer patients need? What do they care about? Does their pain only exist in the body?
But when the epidemic began, meeting patients, finding fabrics, and making designs, the contact and communication between all parties encountered obstacles again and again. In July 2020, I tried to go south for the second time, went to the factory to order fabrics, and just arrived at the airport and called, opposite a good friend of mine, who told me that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and the first thing she said was, "I can model for you." ”
At that moment, I felt like everything was predestined.
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Post-operative underwear sewn by patients themselves
Chinese women seem to be particularly fond of and good at sewing and mending by themselves, it doesn't matter if the clothes and pants are torn, they can continue to wear them after sewing. The same goes for underwear, I still remember the first time I met breast cancer patients, they showed me their DIY post-operative underwear, and they really filled in everything to balance the removed side and the other side.
The most common is an old bra, two or three sewn together, and there is really no way to do it, so she stuffs a handkerchief, gauze, and silk scarf. Some people made a sandbag out of beans and put it in, thinking that the mung beans were too big, so they used quinoa and barley, and some people told me that they all sprouted.
That's when I found out that they were facing severe night sweats and hot flashes after surgery, and that ordinary silicone prostheses were oily and completely airtight, and when I touched their bras, they were all wet.
It was a challenge I had never encountered before, because for the first time as a designer, I couldn't experience it myself, relying on my own body and experience.
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The first fitting meeting was at Xiaodan's house
I had to do research again and again, meet with them, and invite them to my home to tell their stories. I've been designing underwear for ordinary women for more than ten or twenty years, and I've never touched this area, and I didn't think they would be much different before.
But the fact is that because of the huge changes in hormone secretion, their bodies actually have extremely high requirements for underwear materials, and the materials used in ordinary underwear such as lace and mesh are not suitable for their postoperative skin.
Comfort is one thing, they care more about "looking like everyone else" and don't want to expose their body imbalance.
In fact, the body will have different shapes at different stages after surgery, and the size of the chest will also change from surgery to stitches and medication. The silicone prostheses on the market are basically fixed sizes, and they are only used as fillers, ignoring bras, and they are just "pavilions in the air".
When the first version of the sample came out, a girl who came to try on the clothes said to me, "Teacher, can you make it solid?" "I asked why, she said that when taking the bus or subway, if someone pokes it, she will be very nervous, people will feel how it is empty, she will be very hurt, she will Xi the habit of trying to protect this missing part of herself, she has been shrinking, hunched over her chest, and many people have high and low shoulders.
I think I have to not only solve problems, but also pay attention to the differentiated needs of individuals. They need more choices so that they can have the right clothes to wear at different stages.
- Put Together a Puzzle for the Body
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For a long time, I was racking my brain to wonder, is there an affordable, standardized method of customization that can be mass-produced and have a certain degree of customization? After countless polishing and discussions, I finally decided on a modular solution.
Just like building Lego and jigsaw puzzles, you can assemble different parts into a complete garment, and you can choose the parts according to your needs.
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Demonstrate a modular design
So a bra was split and divided into two halves, one on the affected side and the other on the healthy side. If you have had a left resection, you can choose "left and right", or bilateral resection, or reconstruction later, there are corresponding options.
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Yu Xiaodan designed the manuscript
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The filler is the "mold cup", which is divided into two types, thin and thick, and can be stacked at will
The second large module is the filler, which uses a new type of fat foam with many pores on the surface, which is very breathable and can dissipate excess hot flashes and moisture. I made thin cups and thick cups, which can be increased or decreased according to the size of the breasts.
Generally, the openings of the coasters in ordinary bras are on the side, but the edges of the coasters leak out, which is easy to cause pain on their skin, so I made the openings on the top and in front.
Every time I design a version, I have to gather a wave of post-operative patients to try it on, because there is no space in my house before, and then we went to several big cities one after another and did more than a dozen try-on sessions. There are daughters who come with their mothers, and there are husbands and wives who come with them.
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All buckles are hidden,
Do not come into direct contact with the skin to avoid causing discomfort
Every time I come back with a fitting, I start improving.For example, many women have limited range of arm movement after surgery and can't reach the back buckle behind the bra, so we designed it into a front and back double buckle, and the buckle to adjust the length of the shoulder strap is also placed in the front; On the side of the skin, I want the foreign body to disappear as much as possible, so there are no metal buckles or sews for ordinary underwear.
The shoulder straps on the back can be worn in parallel or crossed, and the point of intersection is also lower than that of ordinary underwear. This is due to the fact that lymphedema is prone to occur after surgery, and many people will neglect to do rehabilitation actions because of their concern for the wound, which is easy to cause bad body posture. The cross behind is a bit like "back and back", and wearing it can remind them to pay attention at all times and improve their awareness of positive rehabilitation. It's actually all very small details.
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Yu Xiaodan works with the printmaker in the cooperative factory
They really don't need much, just a piece of underwear that protects them and makes them feel safe. Therefore, the design of the appearance is very simple, but it requires a total of 58 knife molds, that is, 58 parts, to make one.
I decided to name it "Jiang Hao", which is taken from the meaning of warmth, women-friendliness, and also the meaning of "will be good".
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The first is for women with an average body shape, called "Little Ginger", and the second "Big Ginger" is for women who are more plump, prone to sagging, expansion, and are more likely to have imbalance on both sides after surgery.
I remember very well that a girl called me and she started crying when she heard my voice. She suddenly realized that someone was finally doing this, helping and paying attention to them. It's like finding a doctor again, someone is fighting with them.
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The postcard written by the patient to Yu Xiaodan was carefully nailed to the clipboard by her
The most difficult thing for them is not the treatment process. Because the process is very long, at least half a year, but it is very regular, once you follow the doctor into the rhythm of surgery, many things cannot be considered.
The hardest part was when the doctor said to her, "It's over, you can go, you don't need to see me again", and only then did they start their most difficult life. That kind of dazed helplessness, like a person coming out of prison. You have to face a strange society by yourself, face the return to the workplace, face fertility problems, family problems...
Once a young couple came to try on the clothes, and because they couldn't find a place, the husband threw a tantrum.After meeting, he felt very sorry, and his wife told me that they had just gotten married and found out that one breast cancer was discovered, and after the operation, because of the pressure of childbirth, they stopped taking the medicine and had a baby. But just after giving birth, the other side was found again, so both sides were cut.
In the five or six years after marriage, the couple has been living in the fear and stress of this repeated illness, without a normal life, anxiety has become the norm.
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For every guest who comes to try it on, Yu Xiaodan will help her debug it one-on-one
It is at this time that many families break up, and I have heard countless stories of couples choosing to separate after surgery.
The first thing a lot of people do when they come to my house is "can I take off my wig?" and I say of course you can. These are all needs imposed on them by society, wishful thinking that they need wigs after chemotherapy and should wear prosthetic breasts, but how uncomfortable it is, only they know and dare not express it. Women tend to care too much about other people's feelings and neglect themselves.
We chose to intervene at this stage and give them a piece of armor, I don't know if it can reduce their sense of lack to some extent.
- May They Soon Realize Face-to-face Embrace
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Yu Xiaodan's desk
"Jiang Hao" has been doing this for three years with the epidemic, and the difficulties are one after another.
In the Spring Festival of 2021, the team was disbanded once. A lot of people follow me because they want to make fashion-related and lighter things, but I made this decision "selfishly", and it is inevitable that some partners can't bear the pressure and leave, which I can actually understand. The team has changed four times now, and it has remained small at five or six people.
Also because of the impact of the epidemic and the crisis of the capital chain, the process of "Jiang Hao" is complex, and the mold required alone is dozens of times that of ordinary underwear, so it is difficult to find a factory that is willing to undertake it.
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Yu Xiaodan is in a meeting with colleagues
Of course, I also had my waverings, and my husband and I have been separated for the past three years, and he taught in New York, and I haven't been able to go through it once.
Coupled with the fact that I'm getting older, I sometimes wonder if I should do something appropriate for my age. But as a designer, I feel that this is my responsibility and mission.
Some people think I've pushed myself down a narrow path, "You can design underwear for all women, just for breast cancer patients, don't you think it's a very niche group?" "First of all, it is not a niche, with 420,000 diagnoses a year, and it is still growing at a rate of 20% per year.
In addition, they need me, and I have made them wait too long, even if 70% of the 420,000 people need surgery, and only 1% of the remaining people want to wear it, then even if only 3,000 people need it, this is just a need.
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At the end of 2022, I developed the third product of "Jiang Hao", which can not only meet the needs of postoperative women, but also give better support to ordinary women, named 462.In the traditional concept of sizing, the bottom circumference and the cup are mutually progressive, which comes from the "guidelines" formulated by the Western underwear industry for more than 100 years. However, women have a variety of body characteristics, and our bottom circumference and cups often do not increase in a positive direction.I know that many girls have the problem of "small bottom circumference and big breasts" or "large bottom circumference and small breasts" since puberty, and they cannot find suitable underwear. 462 solves the pain point of not finding the right size, and there is an extra "back piece" on the back, which can increase or decrease the bust but does not affect the cup size.
And this need is what I discovered from the process of doing post-operative underwear design. Therefore, I believe that in the future, "Jiang Hao" can solve more problems, and there will also be people with special physical needs who will find us, such as the problem of large and small breasts in lactating women, such as "Polish syndrome" (a congenital body loss with only one breast development). MY MAIN LINE, EMILY YU, FOCUSES ON LACE AND EMBROIDERY, AND THE TWO PARTS WILL COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER BETTER.
Women and the body is a big issue, "In the long history of underwear development, it is full of women's forbearance, bearing, bondage, struggle, liberation, and rebellion. They have a clearer and clearer idea of their way of being. ”
I once wrote in my book "Underwear Lesson", "Women, 200 years ago, took the initiative to say goodbye to the open crotch, used underwear to build a barrier between the body and the outside world, and constantly went out of the house; He gradually stopped dressing up with men's likes and dislikes, and today he can rely on his bra to hide his sexy stunner, and tomorrow he can wear nothing at all;
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Yu Xiaodan's book "Underwear Lesson" was published in 2015 and reprinted last year.
It tells the long history of underwear development.
They are no longer confined to social expectations, and today's women wear corsets only out of active personal will; In the midst of the intricate changes in pajamas and loungewear, it is not difficult to see women's urgent desire to get rid of housework and divide outdoor and indoor, work and leisure. ”
Even in the last 10 years, our perception of underwear has changed a lot - more and more people pay attention to the A cup, and there are new understandings and requirements for the underwire and the thickness of the sponge pad, and we have found a new balance between getting rid of restraint and care.
The cultural history of underwear is actually the process of transitioning from a male perspective to a female perspective, and it is also a process of women's emancipation of themselves and from "tolerating those who please themselves" to "tolerating for themselves".
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The design of "two little people".
Many people have never hugged their lovers head-on after surgery, "most of the time, I show my husband the backside."
So I put a careful thought into the design, on the one hand, the two little figures on the side of the underwear imitate the fishbone to play a supporting role, and on the other hand, I hope that they can hug the intimate person from the front as soon as possible.
