September 8, 2004

Push-Down Bra Inventor Struggles to Find a Market

Bucking Fashion Is Hard, But Perhaps Madonna Can Help

It's been two years since Wesley Kellerman invented the push-down bra. But success still eludes him. Most women, it seems, don't see a need for his product.

"I don't want people to think I'm obsessed with breasts, because I'm not," Kellerman said, sitting for an interview on a bench adjacent to the food court in Omaha's largest shopping mall. "But as a matter of professional interest, I see many, many women who, it seems to me, could use a push-down bra."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't get it." Then he quickly added, "My wife agrees with me. She wears a push-down bra all the time and thinks it's great."

Kellerman's inability to get traction with his push-down bra is particularly painful, because it was at the same Omaha mall that fellow inventor Bobby Renfro came up with the idea for the Stomach Grabber polo shirt. The front of the shirt has a pouch that supports and firms a man's large stomach.

Stomach Grabbers have been flying off the shelves of Wal-Mart and other retailers frequented by men with bulging midriffs. As a sure sign of Renfro's success, he is constantly fighting imitators he claims are violating both his patent and his trademark.

"I would love to have Bobby's problem, chasing down copycats," Kellerman said. He and Renfro have been friends for years and get together from time to time to swap inventor stories. "Bobby thinks the push-down bra is a great idea, too. He's puzzled like I am."

As he spoke, Kellerman's eyes followed a young woman crossing the food court. "Now take her," he said, nodding toward the woman. "She's wearing a push-up bra. In my opinion, she would look better a with a regular bra, and she'd be terrific with a push-down bra."

He sighed. "But you know, if I gave her a free push-down bra, she wouldn't take it. That's how strong the whole fashion thing about pushed up breasts has become. Women are so insecure."

Researching the push-down bra idea, Kellerman and his wife Sallie Ann spent several months at Omaha malls interviewing women one by one about their bras. Kellerman kept a lookout for mall security while his wife pulled each woman aside and surreptitiously conducted an interview.

"You really get to know breasts, at least in terms of their outward appearance, when you do something like that," he said. "They loved the idea of a push-down bra. They recognized that the push-up bra could be uncomfortable and could produce an unnatural look."

But clothing manufacturers, distributors and retailers were unmoved when Kellerman began showing samples of the new bras.

"The push-up culture is just too strong. Women are too afraid to buck what the fashion gurus dictate," he said. "There's fifteen years or so of pushed-up breast brainwashing at work here."

But Kellerman isn't giving up. He's pushing forward on two fronts.

He and Sallie Ann are about to embark on interviewing 1,000 men in Omaha malls about what they prefer a woman's breasts to look like clothed. He predicts the verdict will be they prefer pushed-down breasts.

Next, he's looking for a high profile female celebrity to endorse the pushed-down breast look.

"I thought about Pamela Anderson as someone to give rave reviews to the pushed-down look and get the fashion ball to rolling my direction," he said. "But Sallie Ann convinced me she might be the wrong person."

He's currently focused on Madonna.

"The would be the answer to my prayers," he said. "Madonna wearing my push-down bras and rocking the fashion industry back on its pushed-up heel," he said. "She's a smart businesswomen. She could see the possibilities. I'd even give her a piece of the company."

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