When the founders of Brava Lingerie opened their first store in 2006, they started bra fitting via the classic tape measure method. Within weeks, they realised that numbers don’t tell the whole story and ditched the measuring tool.
Two decades later, the Melbourne-based specialist retailer for D-cup and up women thinks it has cracked the code on the perfect bra fitting experience, with the rest of the industry quietly catching up.
"The numbers on the tape measure rarely matched the final fit," says co-founder Lin Windram. "What's the point? Why include an extra step that doesn't work and is uncomfortable for the fitter and the customer?"
Lin and her daughter Maxine Windram came to the business not as industry veterans but as D-plus women themselves, frustrated by years of uncomfortable and inaccurate fitting experiences. That outsider perspective, Lin Windram says, turned out to be an advantage.
"We were naïve with no experience in the industry, so we listened and learned – but it just didn't add up," Windram says. "We were opposed by experienced bra fitters, but we remained true to what we were witnessing and decided that traditional bra fitting didn't work in this decade.”
Rather than defer to supplier training, Brava developed its own fitting methodology from scratch – a three-stage process called The Brava Way, built around listening, a buddy system and hands-on mentoring with a senior fit specialist. It is still used across all five of the company's stores today.
The process begins before the customer has said a word. Brava fitters are trained to assess size visually as a woman approaches – a skill, they say, that takes around three months to develop, though some staff fast-track it.
"Without the customer even knowing, we have assessed her size visually as she approaches us," Windram says. "It's not obvious to her, but it's a special skill we have developed."
What follows is as much about listening as looking. Brava fitters ask about current bra issues, note the size a woman believes she is, and – often – bring in a bra in a different size or style than the customer expects.
"Repeatedly what we are hearing doesn't match what we are seeing," Windram says. "We know it will help her to reassess how a bra should fit and feel. Tape measures can only provide rigid numbers rather than accounting for breast shape or tissue density."
The results, the company says, have been visceral. "Quite often it was shock – there were tears of joy in the changing room. It was described as 'magic' or 'a superpower'."
In Australia, it is believed that more than two-thirds of Australian adult women are D cup size and above. This is according to insights from Mys Tyler, which shows that 43.3 per cent of Australian women have a cup size of D or DD.
Brava didn’t share the commercial impact of going against the tape measure, but does point to five stores and a loyal customer base as evidence that the method works.
"When fuller-busted women were finally fitted correctly by our highly trained, empathetic fitters, they became dedicated customers," Windram says. "With fierce loyalty they shared their experience with family and friends, leading to many returning customers."
There is also an operational dividend. Without the tape measure step, fitters spend less time on process and more time with the customer – an efficiency that compounds across a retail day.
Staff training, meanwhile, has remained entirely in-house. When Brava hires someone with prior experience in bra fitting, the transition is usually smooth. "They know it's been superseded and quickly learn The Brava Way," Windram says "During training, they would have tried many bras and brands on themselves and their colleagues."
The method has also shaped how Brava approaches digital retail – a channel that has grown significantly since the business opened.
Because the Brava approach was never dependent on a physical tape measure, the company says it translated more naturally to virtual fitting than a traditional methodology would have. The business now offers both ZoomFit and Virtual Fitter services, staffed by trained Brava fitters who assess fit by eye on screen.
"It's not possible to feel the tension on the straps or the band," Windram acknowledges, "but because our team is trained to fit by eye, they know the questions to ask and are able to assess the fit of the bra."
Fitters check front, back and sides on screen, ask targeted questions about how the bra feels, and use the session to introduce customers to styles and ranges they may not have considered.
An industry catching up
Brava is measured in its assessment of the broader industry. The founders note that many experienced bra fitters continue to use tape measures, and some do so effectively.
"This is not about putting down bra fitters who use tape measures," Windram says. "We know of many who are very experienced and still use them. It's a personal preference – sometimes it's all they know, it's like a crutch."
The analogy she reaches for is fashion retail more broadly. "In fashion stores, staff don't need a tape measure to know a woman is a size 14 – they get very good at just knowing what size to bring into the fitting room. Bras are far more complex and require a lot more training, but it's a similar fit-by-eye method."
Windram and her daughter mystery-shopped major Australian retailers extensively when researching the market before launch in 2006. "The results supported our decision to open Brava and develop The Brava Way," Windram says. "Slowly but surely the industry is catching up."
What Brava wants customers to take away, above all, is that a poor fit has never been a body problem.
"These women are not a number," says Windram. "If women have spent years being told a size should fit when it clearly doesn't, the problem was never their body."