From there McKeen began an informal poll asking other women if they were happy with their bras. “Every woman I spoke to told a tale of daily disappointment, or worse,” says McKeen.“One woman even pulled up her shirt to show me scars that had developed where her underwire bras continuously rubbed her raw.”
When she decided to go out on her own and devote her life to building ergonomically efficient bras McKeen knew how many startups failed, especially consumer products. She consulted with a friend from her days at Stanford Graduate School of Business who worked for some successful women's fashion companies.
In 2019, after studying anatomy and physiology and meeting with a breast surgeon at Sloan Kettering, McKeen createdfirst Defy bra. Although wireless, the bra lifts like an underwire. “Many wire-free bras look roughly the same. But I assure you, they are not all created equally,” says McKeen of the bra that sold out within a few months of launching “Nearly every comfort bra on the market today lacks support and shape, because they simply remove the structure or the underwire.