A Scottish entrepreneur will face the BCC's infamous Dragons on television tomorrow night in a bid to secure £200,000 of investment to grow her underwear business.
Caroline Kennedy Alexander founded LoveRose Lingerie three years ago in Edinburgh after recovering from a double mastectomy and reconstruction. The business focuses on the "emotional and psychological needs" of clients by providing luxury products designed for women who have had breast cancer surgery.
"This is a market that’s shockingly underserved and so we’re helping to fill a massive and pressing unmet need," said Ms Alexander, who named the business in memory of her sister Rose, one of two of her siblings to have died from cancer.
“Our post-surgery bras give our customers confidence and renewed self-esteem. Unlike other post-operation underwear, which tends to be bland, matronly, and synthetic, our lingerie is designed with wire-free engineering and crafted luxuriously.”
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LoveRose initially raised £15,000 during a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to help get the business off the ground, and then went on to win at the Scottish EDGE Awards 2018. It has more recently attracted support from London-based venture capital investor Ruth McIntosh.
The collection includes pocketed bras for women who wear prosthesis and hidden support hammocks to negate the need for damaging underwires, while providing full support for the breasts or prosthesis.
Ms Alexander – who studied fashion and founded and ran an international art gallery in Edinburgh for seven years – will be joined on Dragons' Den by fellow LoveRose designer Sarah Bell Jones.
To date the pair have focused on creating bras, pants, robes and suspenders made from sustainable fabrics and finished with silk. They are hoping to expand their product offering with the addition of an Essentials line.
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“Creating the brand has been such a personal journey for me, having fought off breast cancer twice myself, and having supported three of my sisters during their own battles with the disease," Ms Alexander said.
“Post-surgery, I wanted to return to normal life, but I was totally underwhelmed by the lack of comfortable and attractive lingerie available to support the changes in women’s bodies, such as scarring, swelling and cording, and the need for extra support.
“I understand the emotional pain women go through, alongside the physical pain, including the anxiety and fear about how they will adapt their lives to the changes faced by their bodies."
LoveRose advisers include Christian Maher, a former director of lingerie brand La Perla, and Yvonne Webb, a former national account manager at Cadbury.
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