Sassybax shapewear creator now inventor-entrepreneur
19 Jul '07
3 min read
Thomas Edison 1093, Sassybax founder 1. Edison holds the record for earning the most U.S.patents, but the male-dominated field of inventors has been slowly accommodating innovative women since 1809.
Today about 20 percent of inventors are female, a far cry from when Mary Dixon Keis received the first patent issued to a woman nearly 200 years ago. Keis' patented process for weaving straw with silk or thread single-handedly helped to boost the nation's hat industry in the early 1800s. Another female inventor's new weaving process is also giving America a boost this time, in the derriere.
Amanda Kennedy, founder of Sassybax shapewear, gained the status of inventor-entrepreneur this month when she received a U.S. patent for the unique knit structure she developed to incorporate into her company's leggings and bottom shapers.
Woven with shaping cups to lift, round and separate the buttocks, her Sassybax Leggings and Long Leg Panty add more than a figurative boost to a woman's wardrobe. Like her novel bra line that smoothes a woman's back, these new bottom shapers flatter undercover and fall into the "Why didn't I think of that?" category of inventions.
"A flattened fanny doesn't look toned or sexy, no matter how smooth it is," explained Kennedy about the purpose behind her novel shapers. "Often women need to combat more than pantyline troubles; they need to fight gravity."
Sassybax's design incorporates eight distinct knitting techniques woven on customized Santoni machines that are used in the apparel industry to manufacture seamless garments.