Life After Mastectomy

Anita Mastectomy Bras

Anita is a really old and original brand!  I don’t say old meaning old-fashioned, I just mean it’s been around for well over 100 years. It’s one of the very original women’s undergarment and lingerie brands.  The company has five different brands in all, covering all sorts of needs of women.  Yet, as they point out, the common goal for all is for comfort and excellent fit as well as excellent quality. The five brands include Rosa Faia, Anita since 1886, Anita maternity, Anita care and Anita active. Anita mastectomy bras come under the Anita care brand.  So, chances are, if you like this brand they’ll have you covered for all phases and possible eventualities of your life!

Company Name

Anita International Corporation

Brands (Product Lines)

Anita since 1886

Anita maternity

Rosa Faia,

Anita care (Anita mastectomy bras come under this product line) and

Anita active

Company Origins

On their website Anita talk about 130 years of lingerie and swimwear. It is absolutely worth a quick visit to the website to check out their ‘then-and-now’ page for the photos and gorgeous visions of yesteryear! In 1886 a man named Ernst Max Helbig laid the foundations of the company in Dresden, Germany. The foundations for Anita mastectomy bras were laid down a long time ago! Today, Anita is a family-run company based in the town of Brannenburg, Germany. This location is the global headquarters of the company.  However, Anita is made up of 20 companies across 16 countries. So, they’re big!  

Company History

There’s enough company history behind Anita International Corporation to write a book, really! Over 130 years they’ve gone from being a small startup, to entering new and growing niches in the late 1800s. The factory was bombed in World War II and the Company taken over by communist rule.  From there, they started recovering, expanding, acquiring and starting new brands.  And generally, it seems, becoming a huge success in the markets they have entered. Anita supplies their products to customers in over 60 countries.

Here is a fact that resonates strongly.  When the company was founded by Ernst Max Helbig in 1886, it was dedicated to the manufacture of products for special medical requirements. Although they did also produce other garments, specialist shapewear is what they became known for.  So, although they Company expanded into all areas of lingerie, underwear and swimwear over the past 130 years it’s interesting that their origins were for specific care requirements.

Company Philosophy

Anita’s philosophy is based around fit, quality and comfort. With a vision of continuous improvement of their products and an objective to produce timeless looks, not fads, they believe nothing is more important than a perfectly fitting bra.

Like Amoena, Anita claim to have talked to hundreds of women over the years about quality and fit.

They also note that fair pay and optimal working conditions for the 1,750 people in their employ world-wide is a huge responsibility they embrace.

Manufacturing

A page on Anita’s website his titled ‘transparent production -where do Anita bras come from?’ Fantastic! Isn’t this what we all want to know these days?

Product design is done in-house based on extensive research and inspiration at trade fairs from travel and from female customers. Interestingly they state that to make bras of different sizes, they make the design individually for each size. In contrast, they suggest, other companies will just scale a design up or down a few millimetres for the different sizes.  Consequently, this most likely compromises the fit. So this is something most of us won’t know about bra manufacture.

A further surprise to me is that all products that are manufactured around the world all make their way back to the Anita logistics centre in Kufstein, Austria.  From there they store over one million articles in all the various cup and size combinations to ship to their many trading partners around the globe. Despite the large distances, they claim shipping is really quick – 2 days.  This has possibly since being impacted by COVID-19.  However, one suspects if any company is on top of such challenges, Anita will be!

Anita manufacturing facilities are in Germany, Portugal, Austria, Czech Republic Thailand or Myanmar.  The Company are particularly attentive to excellent working conditions in all areas. Anita buy their raw materials from specialist manufacturers in Europe only. Their manufacturing standards and close control of material sourcing guarantees their premium quality products.

Anita mastectomy bras – an observation

I’ve personally often wondered how there can be (seemingly) enormously high prices on some bras yet you can pick one up that seems very similar in the likes of Kmart for not much more than a cheap lunch. I think this research has really answered my question for me.  How about you?

Products

The easiest way to describe Anita products is: if they touch your skin in all the most sensitive of parts, then Anita make them! The Anita since 1886 brand is provided for curvy women. Anita active caters for athletic women and women wanting to be active in general. Anita care specialises in what we’re interested in – specialist bras for mastectomy and for those wearing breast prosthesis. There’s Anita maternity for the moms.  Finally, Rosa Fine is a little more youthful, sexy, trendy and bright, but still caters for different sizes.

Standout Products

Anita offers a large range of non-wired or wire-free bras.  Whether for mastectomy, sport or simply everyday support, there is likely to be one to love.  The choice of colors and styles is wide, without being overwhelmingly vast.  Since my reconstruction surgery I have been unable to comfortably wear underwire bras.  So finding something pretty, that fits and is comfortable has been a big problem for me.  However, I challenge anyone to not find something they love in this beautiful and extensive range!

Where to Buy

In addition to online purchases from their website, Anita mastectomy bras are able to be purchased from select retailers all around the world.  So, there is probably a place near you where you can go in to buy in person. If you require a fitting, this is a good idea.  If you’re an avid online shopper like me, though, you’ll probably appreciate checking out their range on Amazon.  The benefit of purchasing online via Amazon is you can also see reviews from people who have previously purchased their products.

Anita Mastectomy Bras

Affiliate Disclosure

What We Like

Something that stood out immediately when browsing Anita’s website was the inclusion of bodies of real women in the images.  There’s nothing much more off-putting or self-image harming than trying to select a garment modelled by a supermodel looking woman.  Of course, she is beautiful.  But women with real bodies are also beautiful and I feel more comfortable with myself seeing (at least some) real bodies model bras that I may want to choose.  I know that says more about my self image and self esteem than anything else.  But am I alone here?  I don’t think so!

We love the history and intentions of this company. We also love the care they show for their workers, if you can believe the information they share on their website. We’re not for a minute suggesting that they’re making false claims  We are merely being mindful that we’re taking this information directly from the Anita website.

Final Words

For range of products, quality of design and manufacture, fit and corporate citizenship, on paper Anita appears to be outstanding.  Their products aren’t cheap, but we well know we get what we pay for.