This Breast Cancer Survivor Couldn’t Find a Mastectomy Bra to Make Her Feel Beautiful—So She Created Her Own

Dana Donofree, a triple-positive infiltrative ductal carcinoma survivor, launched AnaOno in 2014 to provide women with breast cancer with comfortable, stylish intimates.

Dana Donofree / Courtesy of AnaOno

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, one in eight women in the U.S. will develop breast cancer in their lifetimes. Aside from skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer among U.S. women. This October, SI Swimsuit is committed to providing resources for breast cancer patients while sharing the stories of warriors who have been impacted by the disease. For more information, click here.

The day before her 28th birthday, Dana Donofree’s entire world was upended when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. At the height of her career as a fashion designer and engaged to be married, Donofree’s focus quickly shifted to her health as she underwent a double mastectomy with implant reconstruction, six rounds of chemotherapy and a year of targeted treatments.

When shopping for a post-surgery bra, Donofree was dismayed to find that all of the options on the market were beige, medical-looking devices or “grandma bras.” Rather than settle, she got to work. Donofree launched AnaOno in 2014 in order to bring comfortable, stylish intimates for breast cancer patients, survivors and thrivers to the market.

“I took my experience as a designer, but also as a breast cancer patient and wanted to do better and wanted to feel just as beautiful as I felt before breast cancer took my breasts,” Donofree tells SI Swimsuit of creating her company. “I wanted to feel that same way after breast cancer and I just didn’t really understand why we weren’t. So that’s where AnaOno was born.”

Dana Donofree / Courtesy of AnaOno

Creating an inclusive bra brand for women facing breast cancer

Initially, Donofree set out to create an underwire-free bra for patients like herself who underwent reconstructive surgery following a mastectomy. However, when she reached out to other young breast cancer patients who were experiencing similar issues finding a great bra, Donofree found that not only was there plenty of demand, but there was a great variety of need.

“W hat I found was that some women were only removing one breast, some of them had both breasts removed but didn’t undergo reconstruction, some were wearing breast prosthetics and some had flap surgeries,” Donofree explains. “There were just all of these different surgical outcomes and it was very quick to recognize that all surgery outcomes needed something different or something suitable to really give that patient the support that they deserved.”

Fifteen years after her triple-positive infiltrative ductal carcinoma diagnosis, Donofree has built a brand that helps women feel beautiful while reminding them that their breasts don’t define them. AnaOno is chest inclusive, offering bra options to those with zero, one or two breasts. The brand makes the shopping process seamless for customers, who can peruse by chest type or treatment, an intentional choice Donofree is incredibly proud of. She says early on in her breast cancer journey, one of the biggest “slaps in the face” was seeing mastectomy bras marketed on “beautiful models that had gorgeous cleavage.”

AnaOno / Courtesy of AnaOno

“ I just didn’t understand how they could do that,” she says. “I didn’t understand how that was the story that they were sharing with us, so I made it a very intentional part of building AnaOno to show real bodies and real women with or without their breasts. Being able to actually see how all the silhouettes look on somebody with only one breast or no breast at all is just such an important part of the healing [process] because I think when you see yourself, you can believe in yourself.”

Business challenges turning into victories

One of the most pivotal moments in Donofree’s career occurred three years after she created AnaOno. During New York Fashion Week in 2017, she chose to showcase women with different chest types following breast cancer, from flat closure to implant reconstruction without nipples, on the runway. Donofree says while it was one of the scariest moments in her career, it was also a pivotal moment that helped shift the way the public views the disease.

“[Breast cancer]  affects everybody around us. Our families, our friends, our children, our mothers, our jobs, everything. We’re also massively altering our bodies in order to save our lives and this is a huge piece that we can’t keep brushing under the rug,” Donofree says. “That was just a really big moment that sort of collided two of my worlds, the advocacy world and my fashion world, together.”

AnaOno / Courtesy of AnaOno

Though she dealt with some trepidations ahead of launching her business, she didn’t let them stop her. The same year that Donofree started AnaOno, a Change.org petition in which a young woman challenged Victoria’s Secret to carry a mastectomy bra went viral, and with that publicity, Donofree almost didn’t start her brand for fear that she wouldn’t be able to compete with a large conglomerate. Today, Victoria’s Secret has carried AnaOno mastectomy bras for the last three years, proving Donofree’s fears wrong. Other retailers that stock AnaOno bras include Soma Intimates, ThirdLove and Meijer.

“ There’s always more to do and the boulder is continuously being pushed up the hill, but these little moments I think are a big leap for the community as a whole,” Donofree says. “ ...  My goal is to save every patient possible from crying in a fitting room because the bras don’t fit them. If I can hear a story that somebody didn’t have an issue finding a bra and sort of feeling like they’ve lost their femininity or their self-confidence, or are facing their body dysmorphia, I know we’ve made a win.”

AnaOno / Courtesy of AnaOno

Shop AnaOno to raise breast cancer awareness all year long

Now through the end of October, AnaOno will donate 20% of all sales to nonprofit partners including The Previvor, FORCE and BRCAStrong. Outside of this month, AnaOno donates 10% of sales to nonprofit partners “ because breast cancer doesn’t just start and stop in the month of October,” Donofree says.

PINKTOBER resources EDITED AGAIN. https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/v1759326461/images/voltaxMediaLibrary/mmsport/si_swimsuit/01k6g0epzrfe5pbhp511.jpg. https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/v1759326461/images/voltaxMediaLibrary/mmsport/si_swimsuit/01k6g0epx2cbb70y4kje.jpg. Resources for POC. https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/v1759326461/images/voltaxMediaLibrary/mmsport/si_swimsuit/01k6g0epzmb0pcez0mvb.jpg. Community Support Guide. Breast Self-Exam How To