WHAT "EMBRAGO" MEANS
em·BRA·go
/ em - BRA - go /
A mashup of two words that together capture the spirit of our company: embrace and imago.
EMBRACE
Held in the best kind of hug.
The feeling you get when you put on an Embrago design - snuggly and safely held. One that is strong, soft, and secure.
IMAGO
The fully-realised form.
The final, fully developed adult stage of a butterfly - the beauty and maturity of a woman that comes with time, change, and patience. And the lightness and freedom from gravity you feel in our designs.
We design with compassion for our curves - giving women what we really want and need from our clothes: support, comfort, and beauty that's easy and versatile to wear.
DESIGNED FOR REAL CURVES
Built for the busts the fashion industry left behind.
OUR STORY
How a weekend visit
sparked a design revolution
It started when we had friends visiting for the weekend. Two families, five kids - everyone excited for the sleepover. I love cozy group weekends: everyone rolls out of bed in their pajamas and we gather in the kitchen for pancakes.
But that Saturday morning, something was different. I was aware of my chest in a way I hadn't been before I had my second baby and turned forty. Staying braless in my pajamas, in mixed company, was suddenly not an option. I had to put on a bra. And that felt unfair.
I felt like the one kid who had to go to school while everyone else got a snow day.
Strapping on a constrictive bra meant saying goodbye to Saturday-morning freedom and going back to squeezy weekday discomfort. That's the day I started looking for a comfortable, supportive bra alternative.
Searching for a bra alternative for a fuller bust
And I looked for years. Literally. I scoured stores and deep-dove the internet, trying anything and everything: shapewear camis, shelf-bra tanks, sports bras, leisure bras, built-in bras, wireless bralettes. I wanted something that would make me look supported and dressed while feeling relaxed and unconstricted.
Nothing ticked all the boxes. Everything was a trade-off. The comfortable options offered little or bad support - uniboob, armpit boob - and used foam padding that added unwanted bulk. The supportive options were just as uncomfortable as regular bras: tight elastic underbands, sweaty synthetic fabric, and irritating hooks, wires, and rigid straps.
Bust support, re-imagined
At this point I had a fire in my belly - and it wasn't just the acid reflux from my tight bra band. I knew there had to be a better way, so I set out to make it myself. I didn't know exactly what I was making. I just knew it had to eliminate everything that made full-support bras uncomfortable - underwires, constrictive bands, digging straps - while still doing the literal heavy lifting of a bra.
The idea started ten years ago; six of those were spent in active R&D and prototyping. It wasn't easy - long days and nights of draping, pinning, hand-sewing prototypes, and testing fabric after fabric. There were so many times self-doubt almost defeated me. Who was I to attempt this? If it were possible, wouldn't a better designer have figured it out already?
But the more I suffered in my underwire bras, the more my body changed with the years, and the more women I spoke to - the more I knew I had to see it through. The day I put on the final prototype felt almost surreal. I had done it: a top that made me look dressed to go somewhere, while feeling like an easy stay-home Saturday morning.
By eliminating the uncomfortable elements of the bra, I ended up eliminating the whole bra itself.
Embrago's integrated support system uses sophisticated seam engineering, premium organic cotton, and strategically placed hidden support panels to shape and support even very large busts - with absolutely no hardware. No underwire, no hooks, no elastic, no foam, no plastic. Just all-over softness that holds you and supports you with gentleness.
How Embrago changed my life
I developed Embrago through some of the most difficult years of my life - perimenopause and the pandemic. Hot flashes, night sweats, poor sleep, weight gain, breast tenderness. I had a closet full of clothes I loved, yet almost nothing worked for my changing body. Embrago became the one thing that helped me feel comfortable, supported, and at home in my body again.
My tops adapted through weight fluctuations, gently supported me when hormonal changes made my breasts ache, and helped me look like myself even when I felt my worst. Over time, the deep grooves in my shoulders from years of bra straps faded and disappeared - something I'd assumed would never change.
I'm now through the hardest perimenopause years and feeling healthy again. But after experiencing the physical ease and emotional freedom of Embrago, I am never going back to bras. Welcome to the bra-free clothing revolution - and the future of healthier, happier bust support.
COMMITMENT TO CONSCIOUS QUALITY
Couture-grade construction, made to last.
For a garment this soft to provide bra-equivalent support, every element had to perform. We needed a premium fabric with the strength and resilience for frequent wear - and, because we're committed to people and the planet, one made from organic natural fibers.
After years of fabric research and a nationwide search for the right partner, we found the ideal combination: premium OEKO-TEX® certified organic cotton and highly skilled craftsmanship, right here in our home state.
Every Embrago piece is hand-sewn with care, then finished, pressed, and inspected three times to meet our exacting standards for quality, beauty, and comfort.
WATCH OUR STORY
Bra-free clothing, in motion
AS SEEN IN
DESIGNED FOR REAL CURVES
"I love my Embrago top. If bras are an issue for you, you need this for your perimenopause survival."
— DR. LAKEISCHA W. MCMILLAN, M.D.