LUME SIX
Finally, a Sports Bra So Effective You Won’t Even Remember How Hard It Was to Find a Great Sports Bra
Sure, Dad Gear Review may have started with the idea of finding and reviewing the best outdoor products for outdoor dads, but we have always been a family-oriented operation, and in our case, half of our team happens to be female. Early on, we shifted our focus from being primarily dad reviews, as it were, to being all about gear reviews, expert interviews, how-to hacks, and more where kids, dads, and moms, and kids were all considered.
And when it comes to moms – or anyone with a female body, for that matter – one of the most important pieces of fitness, exercise, and outdoor adventure gear is a sports bra. Good sports bras are also notoriously hard to find, which is why we were thrilled to find and test out a sports bra from Lume Six, that being their Alta Medium Support Sports Bra, specifically.
This is a piece of performance apparel specifically designed for, according to Lume Six’s own product description, “hiking, biking, a little pilates.” So what did we do? We tested it on hikes, on bikes, and in a pilates studio. (Seriously, all three. And on long walks, too.) The result? Superb breathability and moisture reduction, support without squashing, no rubbing or irritation thanks to a seamless woven design, and comfort even after miles on the trail. AKA a great sports bra, and one that is free of all the many issues you have probably found with others – heat, sweat buildup, constriction, and chafing, e.g.
The Lume Six Alta is the best sports bra we have yet encountered – so much so that we wondered how exactly they had gotten it so right. So we reached out to the founder of the company, Margaux Jo Elliott, to find out. It turns out that a professional background working in athletic apparel and personal hobbies that include voracious mountain biking, hiking, and trail running are quite useful when it comes to designing sports bras.
Bonded seams remove all threads that could be abrasive under constant movement. The seamless construction allows for a second-skin fit.
Lume Six’s straps are engineered to lie flat no matter what. As a result, they evenly distribute weight over your shoulders.
photos by @isabellamorionesWe started our chat talking about just that.
What is your background in the outdoor and fitness space, both personally and professionally?
“I have always been an outdoor enthusiast, growing up hiking and backpacking with my family on the weekends,” Margaux Elliott said. “For the last eight years my focus has been primarily on mountain biking in my home of Santa Cruz, California. I did a bit of enduro racing, and in 2020 became the first woman to climb one million feet on a mountain bike in a single year. That year was an incredible accomplishment that pushed my fitness, endurance and resilience to the extreme. Professionally, my career has been focused on technical and performance apparel development for athletic clothing. I started my career in the snow industry, then as my interests shifted I moved into cycling.”
“I find it really enjoyable to create products for the sports I participate in and a lot easier to be inspired. I love that I can combine my hobbies and passions with my work.”
“I find my work to be interesting and challenging since I am always working on apparel with a highly functional aspect to it. Athletic apparel can make a huge difference in someone’s performance, comfort, and confidence while doing a sport and a good piece of apparel can make you enjoy a sport more than you would otherwise by lifting those characteristics.”
What was the inspiration for Lume Six? Was it a “lightbulb” sort of moment or more of a slow, methodical development? And what was so lacking about other sports bras that you went ahead and started a company?
“It was a lightbulb moment inspired by a lifetime of pain and discomfort. The main issue I experienced from sports bras is that I had to choose between support or comfort; there was never a solution that combined both. To get the support I needed, I had to get something that was stiff and restricted movement or breathing, and these often felt overbuilt, like some sort of crazy contraption. To be relatively comfortable, I had to sacrifice the support and compression needed for my activities, which defeated the purpose. I also experienced issues with the basic construction of sports bras – straps that would collapse causing pain in my neck and back, closures that were extremely difficult to access and caused discomfort if laying down on them, fabrics that stay damp forever and feel warm while being active, removable pads that are a weird shape and often get lost – I could go on!”
“While experiencing all of this, my technical skills and knowledge from work were steadily growing and eventually I had the lightbulb moment that since other brands weren’t solving the issues, maybe it was up to me to develop the next generation of high-performance sports bras. From there I took my time developing the product methodically over the course of three years. During that time I was able to try different variations to make sure that I was 100% happy with the final product and how it was executed. I tried so many alternatives, like strap designs, seam construction, different fabrics, and adjustability. This was a really fun part of the development process for me.”
“As I developed the product, it was both reassuring and frustrating to talk to other women and hear that they experienced the same frustrations that I had with sports bras. I truly feel that women deserve a better product in this category.”
What is the primary problem the brand is trying to solve, and what sets you apart from other products that have the same mission?
“We are trying to solve women’s frustrations with sports bras by creating the best sports bra possible both in terms of performance and comfort. I honestly don’t think there is any other brand with the same mission. Maybe they are trying to make better ones, but none of them are using innovative materials and premium construction methods that make ours stand out from the rest. We don’t hold anything back and I think that is very clear when you have the chance to touch or try one on. This does make them more expensive, but with that comes value.”
“This category needs fresh ideas and a new approach. That is something that sets us apart as most brands that make sports bras are giant brands with a lot of priorities to juggle. My singular focus is on this. I hear all the feedback, I process every order and return, and I am in direct communication with every aspect of the product – that kind of learning and attention can’t be replicated by a large organization. My personal mission is to get more women to experience better sports bras so that they can enjoy their activities without distraction and I think that passion also sets Lume Six apart.”
The revolutionary woven materials of a Lume Six sports bra makes for the lightest sports bra we have ever worn, not to mention its incredible breathability while holding its ability to compress.
Photos by @hawaiianlifestylestudioWhat informed your development of the bras?
“Personal experience was the foundation of the development of the sports bras. I created a fit that worked best for me. There is so much variety in body shapes and sizes and breast tissue composition, I think it’s impossible to make one sports bra that will work for everyone. Too many brands are trying to make a sports bra that can work for lots of people and in the end, they don’t work great for anyone. I had an influential mentor who told me that if something works for you, there’s a good chance that there are a lot of other people out there that it will work for too. So, that’s how I developed the fit, then when I was getting close to finalizing it, I worked with athletes and friends to check it and give me feedback to fine-tune it before going to production.”
“Since I spend so much time working with and thinking about apparel, I had tons of ideas for improving the performance and features. Many of these improvements were inspired by triathlon and cycling apparel, and Olympic-level apparel and equipment. Garments used in these sports are extremely innovative and really consider every performance benefit, and that inspired me to reconsider every single component of a sports bra.”
Tell us about a couple of your flagship products - what sets them apart from others, what are the most notable features?
“Our flagship products are the Alta Medium Impact Sports Bra and Cirra High Impact Sports Bra. I think the thing people notice right away is how light they are. We were able to make them extremely lightweight by using a woven fabric instead of a knit; all other sports bras are made from knit fabric. Woven fabric can be lighter weight while having high compression and support that doesn’t restrict your movement or breathing. This also means that they dry incredibly fast. We just did a dry-time test with other sports bra fabrics and our’s dried five times faster than the fastest-drying Nike sports bra and 19 times faster than the fastest-drying Lululemon bra. Woven fabric also maintains its shape and structure better over time and is more resistant to wear and tear, so Lume Six sports bras are more durable.”
“In addition to that, both sports bras have the same comfort-focused features. Our Alleviate Straps are engineered to lay flat consistently through movement so they won’t bunch up and create a pressure point over the shoulder. They also have a little bit of cushion built in to help distribute the load – think of a duffle bag strap and how much more comfortable it is when the cushion is in place, this is the same concept. We use all Streamline Seams – bonded seams – so that there are no thread edges that can cause irritation during movement and sweating. I think this is particularly important for a compressive, next-to-skin garment like a sports bra. The front of the sports bra has what we call the Breezeway Front Ventilation, which is a single layer of fabric allowing maximum airflow in a high-heat area. I also spent a lot of time looking for the right elastic band for the bottom so that it would lay flat consistently; this is really the foundation of support for the whole sports bra and needs a consistent connection for best performance and comfort.”
“In addition to all of these things, there are a couple of options that address some very common complaints from women about sports bras. We have two versions of both models – one with the light lining sewn in and one that is unlined. Women either want padding or they don’t and brands try to create a solution that works for everyone by making padding removable. Unfortunately, this ends up annoying everyone. Removable padding gets bunched up, lost, or is an unneeded waste of materials. Pads also tend to be thick and hot during exercise. Additionally, we have created what I call Extended Sizes so that people can mix and match band and bust sizes. The most common complaint I heard from women was that they couldn’t find a fit they liked and that often they would find a sports bra that fit in one area but not another. With extended sizing, if a medium fits great in the chest but is too tight in the band, they can get a large band/medium chest size and so on for all the sizes. I like the small/medium/large scale for a compression item like a sports bra over the band/cup sizing that is common in regular bras, but there is a need to fine-tune the fit and extended sizing makes that possible.”
“These are great examples of how a woman-owned sports bra brand can address real-world issues that women have with their gear. Having worked in the industry for a long time, I can see how these concerns might get brought up at other brands but ultimately be considered not important enough to create product alternatives.”
Who is the primary customer of Lume Six? And for what activities is the brand's apparel/gear best suited?
“I am an athlete and when I was developing the sports bras, I certainly geared them towards high performance for someone that is particularly active and would benefit most from the technical features. However, any woman using a sports bra for physical activity can benefit from a more supportive and comfortable experience, so for that reason I think Lume Six sports bras are for any woman.”
“Personally, I have benefitted the most by using the Cirra High Impact sports bra for running. Before Lume Six sports bras existed, I couldn’t go for a run without pain and discomfort or restriction of breathing. Going for a run in the Cirra makes me feel free to do an activity that I was never able to enjoy because of my sports bra. I would say they are geared toward medium and high impact activities like running, mountain biking, weight training, tennis, hiking, horseback riding, and so on.”
“My hope is that women don’t settle for the status quo that we have been sold for sports bras. I encourage all women to try something new and demand better products for such an essential piece of sports equipment.”
How does a woman properly choose a sports bra? And what are common mistakes people make there?
“I think the most important thing is for a woman to try on different sports bras and different sizes to find the right one for her. Things to look out for are that the bottom band has a consistent connection with the ribcage under the bust. The straps should have a good connection to the shoulders, but enough room to fit about two fingers underneath. The sports bra should work for the intended activity, which is why we have designators like medium impact and high impact – ultimately, it’s just about guiding someone to the most comfortable choice for what they are doing.”
“I am a big believer in high compression leading to overall comfort while being active, so I would encourage women to try something a little more snug than might feel natural in the fitting room. That is the most common mistake that I see: women often buy a sports bra that is too big. However, that is personal preference as well, and not everyone wants high compression. As long as a woman ends up with a sports bra that suits her needs and is comfortable during her activities, then it is the right choice for her.”
What's next for the brand looking ahead down the road?
“I have so many ideas for different products that solve other frustrations that I have experienced from athletic apparel, and I know other women have experienced too. It’s exciting to see the opportunity to make women’s athletic experiences better, and I plan to keep pushing to make the best apparel out there. Stay tuned! If everything stays on track we should have a couple of new product releases next year.”
Photo by @meyvn_creativeBanner Photo by @hawaiianlifestylestudioProfile photo by trent bona