Silhouettes, not sizes: Meet Daylilie, the Vancouver startup designing bras for athletic bodies

For women with broad shoulders, finding clothes that don’t just fit, but fit comfortably, can be a challenge. Manuella Widjaja knows the feeling—especially when it comes to finding the right bra. She would spend countless weekends shopping, only for the band to be too tight or the cups to be the wrong size, ultimately forcing her to settle for a sports bra or bralette.

Then the idea snapped into place. “I was like, hey, you know what? This is a personal problem, yes. But it’s also a business opportunity,” she  recalls. So, in 2022, she started doing market research to see if the bra problem resonated with other broad- shouldered women.

It did with two-time Canadian Olympic rower Jennifer Joan Casson. “I’m very vocal about my issues with my back and my chest and finding things that fit,” she says. Casson was training with her doubles rowing partner for the Paris 2024 Olympics when Widjaja reached out. The two connected, and Casson was immediately on board.

“With her background in healthcare startups and her very clear vision on what she wanted to establish, I was very attracted to that,” says Casson, who became the official co-founder in January. “From the get-go, I loved the energy and drive that she had in terms of getting things done… And I knew, following rowing, I wanted to do something that was equally challenging.”

Thus, Vancouver-based bra startup Daylilie was born. The garments are designed for women with athletic silhouettes (which Casson jokingly refers to as “the upside-down Dorito body shape”). Think: broad shoulders and backs, and often (though not always) shallower breasts.

Daylilie is in its product development phase (on its seventh iteration at the time of writing), utilizing the brainpower of team members with experience at powerhouse clothing brands Lululemon, Arc’teryx and Aritzia.

“We don’t design on trends,” Widjaja says. “We look at the problem first and we design around that… The second layer is when we make it look beautiful, timeless and chic.”

Conventional bras have straight bands that go across the torso, which can cause chafing and pinching at the back for athletic silhouettes. Daylilie’s bras are more dynamic, designed with a dip along the band to leave space for the latissimus muscle.

“It’s very mobile, very malleable. And that is so we can contour the body well because everyone has different wideness,” Widjaja explains. The hook connecting the band allows for more movement, and the bra cup is shallower and has a wider base.

Daylilie’s slogan: “Silhouette, not sizes.” While brands like Pepper or Knix market inclusion, they often provide that inclusion in a specific way. “Most companies focus on the cup size, but then they forget that it has to go around the body,” Widjaja says. That leaves Daylilie with no competition when it comes to designing for silhouettes, a focus that Widjaja says sets them apart. The brand has filed a provisional patent for their design.

 

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Since creating their test product, Widjaja and Casson have received a wave of positive responses. “It was really cool to see them stand back… [and] look at themselves in the mirror,” Widjaja says, reflecting on a fitting Daylilie did with UBC varsity athletes last year. “If this is how they are reacting with the proto[type], I’m sure we’ll have an even better reaction with the actual product.”

Casson has noticed the same type of feedback. “We get this unanimous sigh of, ‘Oh my gosh, something for me.’ And I think that’s really special for us because we’ve felt that way for so long,” she says.

Casson is also confident that the need is everywhere. It’s a new niche, with more women getting into weightlifting and sports, building an athletic body type. “It’s just a really exciting time to be in this space,” she says.

In May, Daylilie was one of 20 startups selected out of hundreds to move on to the third phase of the Athlete365 Alibaba Global Accelerator led by the International Olympic Committee. It’s a new program that supports Olympians becoming entrepreneurs through access to  education and development support. Being selected means Daylilie will receive direct mentorship and opportunities to access funding through international networking.

“It’s one thing to believe in yourself. But it’s another thing when you have the Olympic Committee backing you as well,” Casson says. The duo is looking to grow Daylilie as much as they can, organically, before turning to the traditional investment model, especially since they’re in such early days.

The brand is aiming (“with ambition,” Widjaja notes) to launch—or at least have pre-ordering—by the end of 2025 to early 2026, just in time for the “new year, new me” wellness season in January.

The co-founders are also hopeful that bras are just the starting point for Daylilie. “There’s just so much that’s being underserved in terms of athletic women having  everyday clothing that fits them, that’s made for their bodies, that moves with them,” Casson says.

 

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