The sports bra was fashioned from two pieces of male underwear 45 years ago. Britain s spending on sports bras jumped by a quarter to £72.3million last year
NORTH CANTON, Ohio, October 2021; Seven innovation pioneers whose inventions range from cataract surgery to the modern automobile will be honored as part of the latest class of National Inventors Hall of Fame® (NIHF) Inductees.
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End the painful bouncing and too-tight feeling once and for all with the newest generation of sports bras.
Bras have come a long way from the cloth and leather supports women used to bind their breasts in ancient Rome. But shockingly, it wasn’t until 1977 when the first “modern” sports bra was invented by Lisa Lindahl and Polly Smith. Known as the Jockbra, and later rebranded as the Jogbra, it was fashioned out of two jockstraps sewn together. Certainly, there was room for improvement but it served as a crucial starting point.
Now, more than 40 years later we’re finally seeing major strides in the advancement of the category, partly because of the staying power of the athleisure trend and the rise of fitness culture, which has become ingrained in much of our daily lives. “Today, sports bras now account for roughly 40 percent of the bras a woman owns in short, it’s become a big business,” says Joanna Griffiths, founder of Knix, the Canadian-born undergarment
Director s Forum: A Blog from USPTO s Leadership
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USPTO celebrates American women inventors and entrepreneurs
Editor s note: This is a blog about the USPTO from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Most Americans have likely heard of Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, or Alexander Graham Bell. But what about Harriet Strong, Frances Arnold, and Juliette Gordon Low? These and so many more women inventors and scientists have made lasting contributions to our nation’s history. They have inspired future generations of innovators to change the world with their ideas.
In honor of Women’s History Month, as part of its mission to protect and promote the ingenuity of American inventors and entrepreneurs, the Department of Commerce’s U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is sharing the stories of notable women innovators, past and present. A few of these stories are highlighted below, but we encourage you to take a moment to learn more about thes