Thanks to advances in technology, more women who have lost a breast due to cancer are undergoing plastic surgery that restores the breast to its original shape. Wacoal’s Human Science Research Center is currently working with a university hospital to promote research on innerwear for women with reconstructed breasts, aiming to enhance their quality of life by providing desirable semi-order-made innerwear under the brand Dublevé.
Dublevé Offers brassieres that perfectly fit each woman’s breast.
Normally, the brassieres we sell at stores are available in approximately 50 sizes, meeting the demands of women with a wide range of body shapes. Sometimes, however, even this range of sizes does not cater to all body shapes. To address this problem, in 1999 we established Dublevé as a brand of semi-order-made brassieres.
The most distinctive feature of the brand is that it has specialist consultants who provide innerwear that exactly fits each individual by measuring the circumference of the underside of the bust, the volume of cups and size of the bottom of the bust, and then selecting the most appropriate innerwear from among 3,030 sizes. Dublevé products can solve problems shared by many women, such as straps falling off shoulders and wrongly sized cups.
Moreover, customers can enjoy their original brassieres by choosing lace, charm, and straps as well as the color of the base and cups. Despite these advantages, Dublevé offers products at prices not much higher than those of ready-made products, successfully overcoming the image that semi-order-made innerwear is expensive.
Distinctive Features of Dublevé
Wearing a poorly fit brassiere can eventually lead to distortion of the body line. As illustrated in the following example, the size of the brassiere is usually determined by the widest and bottom measurements of the bust even if there are differences in the shape and volume of the bust. However, Dublevé offers brassieres that fit each individual exactly by measuring the left and right verge line (the circumference of the underside of the bust) and bust volume.
Enhancing the Quality of Life of Women with Reconstructed Breasts through Our Semi-Order-Made Innerwear
Reconstructed breasts are so delicate that it takes about one year for the shape and size of the breasts after surgery stabilize. For women who have undergone breast reconstruction, it is difficult to find innerwear that fits well. To solve this problem, Wacoal and Okayama University Hospital have promoted joint research on the usefulness and safety of innerwear following breast reconstruction.
Wacoal Staff Stationed in Hospital to Meet Patients in Person
Joint research between Wacoal and Okayama University Hospital has been carried out at the hospital’s Breast Cancer Treatment and Reconstruction Center. In the Center, we have established a counseling room where staff persons from Wacoal’s Human Science Research Center are stationed, playing an important role in promoting closer cooperation between Wacoal and the hospital, focusing on the patients.
In the research, we measure the size and shape of the busts of patients who have undergone breast reconstruction surgery and have consented to participate in our project, at fixed intervals (one month, three months, six months and 12 months after surgery). Questionnaire surveys are also conducted on women’s busts and innerwear.
Providing Advice with Patients’ Psychological Needs in Mind
The joint research has found that many patients lack information about innerwear for women who have undergone breast construction surgery. Before undergoing surgery, patients are filled with thoughts of surgery and have little time to think about what innerwear to wear after surgery, while after surgery they tend to feel stress about explaining their diseases at innerwear shops.
The research has also proved that our advice about innerwear at the hospital is beneficial to such patients. Some say they are at ease seeking advice because of the hospital’s introduction of this service, and others say that thanks to staff persons with knowledge of the disease, they can reduce the psychological burden of selecting innerwear. In addition, when questioned about Dublevé innerwear, many patients answer that they are satisfied with its brassieres because they are gorgeous compared to ordinary innerwear for breast cancer patients and that there is a wide variety of sizes and designs.
Fulfilling Patents’ Desires of Enjoying Being Fashionable
Many women who have undergone breast reconstruction surgery worry about recurrence of the disease, so they require a great deal of psychological care as well as physical care. At the same time, they also have a desire for fashionable innerwear. We will continue to work with medical institutions, taking full advantage of our strengths and strive to help enhance the quality of life of women who have undergone breast reconstruction by providing products that perfectly fit each woman’s bust after surgery and with a wider selection of innerwear.
