Girl Spies Biz Opportunity, Invents Non-Sexual Teen Bras

Yellowberry_11Some seniors at Megan Grassell‘s high school will be looking for jobs this summer, but not her. She’ll be working with her mom to build her own business, but she’s not selling cupcakes or lemonade, she’s making wholesome bras for teens.

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Grassell’s “Ah-ha” moment came when she went to the mall with her little sister and realized that all the bras for girls her age were highly sexualized. They were all push up bras, padded or otherwise very sexual. And to make it worse, the bras didn’t even fit very well. Megan decided that there must be a niche in the market that would want bras for teens that weren’t as explicitly provocative. So she decided to kickstarter her own project called “Yellowberry.”

In her request for funds to start the company, Megan wrote, “I couldn’t believe the bras that she was supposed to buy. The choices for her, and for all girls her age, were simply appalling to me. They were all padded, push-up and sexual. Not only that, they did not fit her body properly, which automatically made me wonder ‘Where were the young, cute and realistic bras for girls?’ There were none!”

Her 30 day campaign to crowdfund Yellowberry was a huge success! She asked for $25,000, but people were so excited about the product that she ended up raising $42,000 to finance it all.

LingerieTalk.com reports that Yellowberry is not so much just a bra company as it is a revolution of sorts:

Yellowberry is as much a movement as it is a bra company, using its marketing and merchandising platform to fight back against the hyper-sexualized commercial environment that adolescent girls face every day. Fans are called “Berries” and the company’s motto — “Changing the bra industry for young girls”— boldly challenges the status quo.

Yellowberry will be different because at the core of the company what we want to do is sell a bra in a non-sexy way,” Megan said. “In lingerie, that’s a new idea.”

“For those girls aged 11 to 15 the options they have to buy are for the most part overly sexual. They need a different bra that doesn’t scream ‘sex’.

“You shouldn’t have to buy a sequined push-up bra when you’re 13. You shouldn’t have to feel pressured to look a certain way.”

kickstarter_thankyouThe bras are already on the market and have apparently been selling well. The names are actually very funny, but you have to raise an eyebrow a bit at a conservative bra that is named the “Tiny Teton.” Still, it’s a great way for people with conservative principles to show how the marketplace can create a demand for a product that demonstrates their values have… value.

The shop’s name is called Yellowberry because a yellow berry is not quite ripe. Megan describes it thusly: “Think about a berry before you pick it. It’s still yellow. It’s not yet ripe. It has to go through certain stages until it is ripe. And you can’t rush those stages because they are what will eventually create a beautiful berry.”

Sounds like a great idea Megan! Good luck to you and your company!

What do you think? Is this a great way for people with conservative values to demonstrate their principles? Leave your comments below.

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