Breast Cancer Bra Petition Makes Headway at Victoria's Secret

An online petition to get Victoria's Secret to make post-mastectomy bras for breast cancer survivors appears to be inching toward success.

In January, we told you about Allana Maiden, who started a petition on Change.org asking Victoria's Secret to make bras for women like her mother, a breast cancer survivor. As Maiden explained at the time, stores selling post-mastectomy bras aren't always easy to find, and the bras her mother orders online don't fit very well. Victoria's Secret, she says, is known for its expert fitting and attractive designs, so a line of "Survivor" bras from the retailer would be great for women who have undergone mastectomies.

The petition went viral seemingly overnight (as of this writing it has over 120,000 signatures), and Maiden wound up speaking with Tammy Roberts Myers, a senior vice president at Victoria's Secret parent company, Limited Brands (LTD), to discuss her vision for the bras. Then, apparently not content to take that response as a small victory and hope for the best, Maiden and her mother flew to New York to hand-deliver the petition to Victoria's Secret's corporate headquarters.

It looks like that extra bit of pressure worked. They were able to meet with Myers in person to discuss the issue, and afterward, Change.org announced further progress: Allana and her mother will visit the Limited Brands HQ in Ohio, take a tour of the James Cancer Hospital in Columbus, and then go on a bra shopping excursion with some Limited marketing staffers so that the company can see what it's like for breast cancer survivors to shop for bras.

None of this necessarily guarantees that Victoria's Secret will wind up making the bras. But the company is certainly saying and doing all the right things so far.

Matt Brownell is the consumer and retail reporter for DailyFinance. You can reach him at Matt.Brownell@teamaol.com, and follow him on Twitter at @Brownellorama.