🔒Niche clothing brand rethinks women’s post-mastectomy fashion

When Becky Johnson was diagnosed in 2019 with breast cancer at age 49 and had to have a bilateral mastectomy, she opted to forego breast reconstruction and instead undergo a surgical procedure known as aesthetic flat closure. Later, after struggling to find clothes that fit her new form, she discovered that she wasn't alone in a choice colloquially referred to as "going flat." One medical study, published in 2023, found that out of 650,000 mastectomy patients, 62.5%, or 406,250, underwent a flat closure. The procedure rebuilds the shape of the chest wall after one or both breasts have been removed; an aesthetic flat closure may also be done after removal of an implant that was used to restore breast shape. Refusing to accept that a flat closure meant sacrificing style, the real estate agent began thinking about how to make fashion more inclusive for other breast cancer survivors. “Women’s clothes aren’t designed for women without breasts,” said Johnson, who lives in the Midcoast town of Lincolnville. “It’s such a huge gap in the fashion market.” With no experience in the apparel industry, the real estate broker teamed with Tracy Friden, a Camden-based designer, to start a clothing brand “for women living flat after a mastectomy.” The duo launched FlatWear Clothing LLC in 2024 and a website in October 2025. While they initially worked with a manufacturer in India, that ended up being both cumbersome and costly. They later found a solution closer to home, buying equipment and textiles from the former owner of a Rockland clothing store that closed in 2025.

The purchase included sewing machines, a cutting table and a fabric cutter, as well as Italian linen and 100% cotton used in the current spring and summer collection. FlatWear pays a seamstress to sew its garments. Clothes are mainly sold primarily online and at pop-up events, though some customers also arrange to visit Johnson's home to try on clothing. This year’s collection features seven spring and summer designs, in addition to some of last year's summer collection. Garments are listed on the website at $98 apiece for basic tops to dresses at around $225. For upcoming colder seasons, the team has a few designs ready to go for late summer and early fall.

'Clothing is our armor'

Friden sees her work for the mission-driven fashion brand as a privilege. "Clothing is our armor when we engage with the world,” she said. “We all have that top or dress that we go for when we need to feel confident. But if instead of giving you confidence, your clothes make you feel vulnerable — you’ve lost something. Being able to give that back — to make something that gives a woman some of her moxie back — that inspires me.” While about 80% of FlatWear's customers are in the United States, Johnson said she hopes to tap the Australian market, which has a "large percentage of flat women, but the shipping is very expensive."

Next chapter

Johnson said business has been steady this year, but she and her business partner hope to increase orders so they can eventually pay themselves. "It's hard because we really need someone to market our business, but that's so expensive," she said. "Any extra money goes toward buying fabric and paying our seamstress. We're at the point now where we need to decide how to scale up."