THE FOUNDER
Karen Poirier
Founder & CEO of Embrago and inventor of the patented Body Responsive Fit™ technology, the first bra-free clothing engineered to fully support fuller busts.
Karen Poirier is the founder and CEO of Embrago and the inventor of its patented Body Responsive Fit™ technology - a structural support system that builds full-bust support directly into a garment, eliminating the need for a bra.
She came to design after a 30-year marketing career, not through a fashion studio, but by setting out to solve a problem the industry had ignored for over a century: how to lift and shape a fuller bust without tight bands, wires, or hardware. After years of research and development - prototyping, consulting technical and textile experts, and refining couture-grade construction - she founded Embrago in 2018 and engineered a new approach to support.
A Pittsburgh native, Karen designs every piece in Embrago's line with thought and intention. Her expertise is grounded in lived experience: she began designing Embrago after her own midlife and menopausal body changes made conventional bras unbearable. Her design philosophy is that good design should be hyperversatile and durable, working harder than the typical one-use styles that dominate fashion.
THE INVENTION
A new approach to support, built into the seams.
Her patented system uses advanced seam engineering and hidden support panels to support fuller busts using only soft materials - no underwires, elastic, hooks, foam, or plastic - while adapting to natural body fluctuations through perimenopause, postpartum, and weight changes. The work created a new hybrid category that functions as intimates, performs as activewear, and presents as ready-to-wear.
Embrago's Compassion Collection earned two International Design Awards (Silver in Fashion Design and Bronze in Apparel Projects) and was a featured collection on the runway at Columbus Fashion Week. Every piece is ethically manufactured in Pennsylvania using OEKO-TEX® certified organic materials.
THE COMPANY
30 years of building other brands, then a category of her own
Embrago is woman-owned and ethically, sustainably made in the USA. It created the first patented bra-free clothing, using Body Responsive Fit™ technology to engineer full-bust support directly into the seams of each garment with technical textiles and OEKO-TEX® certified organic cotton - no wires, bands, hooks, foam, or plastic. The line spans Dressed, Active, Travel, and Accessories, collapsing the boundaries between intimates, activewear, and ready-to-wear so women never need a bra again.