Rebecca Clay

Sometimes situations which you would least expect turn out to be wonderful sources of inspiration. This is the story of Rebecca Clay, founder of The Bra-cketbook Foundation, which makes purses out of bras and donates all the profits to breast cancer research.

Rebecca grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, went to work for IBM in Atlanta and Tampa then returned to Greenville to become an entrepreneur opening an interior design business.

She lived an active lifestyle, loved to water and snow ski. At the age of 47, Rebecca was stricken with breast cancer. Suddenly her whole world changed. She said that death was the farthest thing from her mind but suddenly she had to confront it. She became more spiritually aware and found solace in the words of Mother Teresa:”We all live in quiet desperation.”

Rebecca endured a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery.

One day, while at an auction with friends, Rebecca had a eureka moment. She went home and began to experiment. She came up with a way to make a purse out of a bra. 

You don’t actually see the bra unless you look inside. She says,”You don’t want your bra to show while you wear it”. Her purses are like ornate works of art and she donates all her profits to breast cancer research.

These are great conversation pieces! I'll have to say when I met Rebecca I was immediately taken with her warmth and bubbly personality not to mention her great pieces of wearable art.

- Jan Francoeur