Spotlight: Elba London

We sat down with Judith, the founder of Elba London, to give EveryHuman some insight into how this amazing adaptive brand came to be:

Let's start simple, where did the name Elba London come from?

The name “Elba” is “able” spelled backwards, and to be able is to find it easier to do something which is exactly what I hope women will find with our bras. London is our amazing home base.

I also really wanted the name to be something simple and modern without obviously sounding like a disability brand, so Elba was the perfect fit.

What was the inspiration behind setting up your business?

Within a couple of weeks I had one girlfriend ask me for help finding nice bras for her mother who had arthritis, and another for help finding a bra that she could put on easily following shoulder surgery. I was shocked at the limited offer available in adaptive bras and the fact that aesthetically things didn’t look to have changed much in the past 50 years! This is where the idea for Elba was born, no other lingerie brands were making the kind of product these girlfriends were looking for, something that made dressing easier that didn’t compromise fit or aesthetics, and I thought that so many other women must be experiencing this same dissatisfaction.

How does Elba differ from other bra brands?

Manufacturing bras is surprisingly complicated, but for Elba the real challenge lay in finding an alternative to fiddly hook & eyes, or scratchy Velcro.

After researching and testing, and with the support of the UK’s leading arthritis charity, Versus Arthritis, the Elba EZ fastener makes our bras truly easy on (and easy off)! 

Beyond the function and practicality we’ve invested in every detail from adjustable front straps to wire-free but supportive designs, and ultra soft fabrics. It was also very important for me that we produced in Europe aligning with the leading lingerie brands in the market.

How would you describe the philosophy of Elba?

To re-define adaptive underwear answering the needs of a modern woman with fit, function and style.

What energises you? What are your true passions?

It means so much to hear from customers who have bought and love the Elba bra. To know that women are able to buy adaptive lingerie and really feel good in it is so great, and makes all the hard work worthwhile. Plus it makes me passionate about our next designs that we’re currently working on offering more colours and sizes.

What advice would you give to any woman when buying bras?

You’ve probably heard it before - that most women are wearing the wrong bra size. The problem is that just like jeans there’s a wide variation in how bras of the same size will fit from brand to brand, even from one style to another.

So the first thing to do is to measure yourself regularly – on average women’s boob sizes can change six times over the course of their lives whether due to weight changes, pregnancy, medication, or other factors. Then it’s about comfort, fit and find. Wearing the right bra not only helps you look better and your clothes fit better but it really can have a positive physiological impact.

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Until next time,

EveryHuman

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