Online Survivor's Bra Petition Catches Victoria's Secret's Eye
When most people walk into Victoria's Secret, they see an unabridged opportunity to feel sexy, perfumed, and pampered, all rolled up and taken home in bright pink-striped bags.
Allana Maiden and her mother Debbie Barrett were in a Victoria's Secret store not long ago, and both came to the realization that although flattering bras are the mainstay of the company, they were missing something in their line.
Barrett, 57, is a 21-year survivor of breast cancer, and Maiden (both pictured above) wanted to find out if the global retailer would be interested in designing something specifically to bring awareness of the millions of women who continue to undergo chemotherapy, therapies and all-to-often invasive surgery in response to the disease.
In other words, could Victoria's Secret design something to make a survivor of breast cancer feel more beautiful, too?
Barrett wears a prosthetic device because her insurance wouldn't cover breast reconstruction at the time. She drives an hour and a half (likely past at least one Victoria's Secret) to the nearest store that provides bras that will hold prosthetic breasts.
The two took to the Internet, and discovered the online social network-driven petition site Change.org. They uploaded a photo of themselves, described their desire to see a line of Survivor's Bras, and shared the petition online with family and friends.
It didn't take long for the petition to reach and then exceed the 100,000 signature mark, as the link and appeals to sign were passed through Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus.
"The support we got is awesome," said Maiden. "I knew that there were a lot of people out there who do care deeply about the issue of breast cancer. I wasn't sure how many would get behind something like this. People go on walks and buy pink ribbons, but I didn't know if they would respond to this."
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