Medical Garment Makeover

March 23, 2007 (WPVI) -- One of the key rules of business is "find a need and fill it." That's just what 3 innovative young Delaware Valley women are doing, by giving a plain-Jane medical garment a jazzy makeover.

23-year-old Robin Miller and 36-year-old Rachel Levin were thrilled to survive breast cancer. Unfortunately, after their cancer treatment lymphedema developed.

"In some respects, it was more devastating than breast cancer because it's permanent, it's incurable, it's not pretty, and the way it's managed isn't pretty," Levin said.

Lymphedema is excess fluid build-up that leads to swelling in the arm and hand. Patients have to wear a compression garment all day, every day.

"We were sitting in a doctor's office and talking about how horrible and ugly they were and we were kinda like you know someone should make these, and then we were just like, well, we could make these," Miller said.

So they teamed up with fashion designer Kristin Dudley, and with the help of their alma mater Drexel University, formed a company called LympheDivas.

"Essentially what we're doing is building a brand. We're working with a lot of different partners to create something, to manufacture something," Levin said.

The result is colorful sleeves and gloves made from high-tech fibers with unique design features. They're crafted to look good, feel comfortable, and work better.

"To make sure that these stay completely medically correct while doing the experimenting with the fashion," Dudley said.

Rachel and Robin use their own experiences in crafting their products.

"We really wanna make women who have this condition feel good about themselves and feel beautiful and we each embody that in ourselves," Levin said.

The 5 initial designs made by the women are available in various breast care specialty boutiques.

LympheDivas aren't just turning heads for the way their product looks. The Drexel grads' company's business plan has been collecting awards for ingenuity as well.

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