More About Kimberly

About Kimberly

Growing up in a small city on the Alberta prairies, Kimberly struggled to find bras that fit as a youth. Her frustrations with bra shopping and feeling that her breasts were 'unmanageable' led her to consider a breast reduction at only the age of 17. Upon discovering European bras that used the rest of the alphabet while she studied at NAIT in Edmonton, she realized that her body wasn't the issue and didn't require surgery. The availability of bras in a wider range of sizes was the problem!

In 2002, the discovery of beautiful, imported bras in a rainbow of colours, all with matching panties, led her to take a part-time job at an Edmonton bra-fitting boutique, where she worked and trained under a third-generation bra-fitter for the next five years. Trained to fit-by-eye, Kimberly enjoyed connecting with her clients, solving their bra-fit issues, and perfecting the fit by offering custom alterations with her sewing skills. A highlight of her time at the boutique was her first trip to Europe in 2006 to attend the industry's best-known tradeshow in Paris and a lingerie factory visit in Belgium.

A visit to the PrimaDonna HQ in Belgium, where they're sewing up Kimberly's old favourite, Saffran, aka 1306.

When Kimberly left the world of bra-fitting retail, her passion for bras and bra-fitting didn't end. She spent three summers learning pattern making and bra making with Beverly Johnson at the Saskatchewan Stitches Conference, where she was known for sewing colourful bras into all hours of the evening in her high heels. 

In 2012, she decided there was still so much more to learn about bra making and design, so she set off to England to learn all she could over two weeks of bra-making-focused summer classes at De Montfort University. Known for its Contour Fashion degree course, founded in 1947, it is widely regarded as one of the world's best places to study lingerie design.

The two weeks of summer courses gave Kimberly a taste of what it was like to connect with world-renowned intimate apparel industry experts. They offered an authentic look at the potential to make a career in lingerie design and development. With the encouragement of other course participants and the summer course lecturers, she began to prepare an application to enrol in the degree program for that very fall. Only ten weeks after the end of the course, Kimberly moved to England to take the 3-year Contour Fashion BA program, where she specialized in DD+ lingerie design, pattern-making, construction and grading, graduating with First Class honours.

England was the land of opportunity for a young woman who wanted to immerse herself in the lingerie world. She quickly put herself out there, becoming a fit model for a start-up full-bust lingerie brand, assisting her lecturers with delivering short course programs, and writing in-depth intimate apparel training articles for her mentor, David Morris, of IA Technical. While studying, she also had the opportunity to work for Bravissimo, England's D+ bra-fit specialists, when they opened a store in Leicester.

October Divine wearing the 'Hero' piece from Kimberly's graduate collection - Enigma.

After graduation, Kimberly continued her adventures working for a large D+ lingerie retailer in Germany and Denmark, working on designing and developing private collections for the brand. Always making opportunities for herself, over the next few years, Kimberly visited more industry tradeshows, events, and factories across England, Germany, France, Latvia and Indonesia.

Kimberly in 2018 when she launched Kimbralisa Design Services.

At the end of 2018, Kimberly returned to Canada and began a technical development role on the intimates team at lululemon. During this time, she developed sports bras and swimwear products and was integral in developing wear test and performance testing procedures for the team. 

In 2023, Kimberly faced a new challenge in life, and it just so happened to involve her left breast. After self-discovering a texture change in her breast and pushing for diagnostic imaging at the age of 39, she was diagnosed with Stage 2, triple-positive breast cancer. HER2+ is an aggressive form of fast-growing cancer, which typically requires all forms of traditional cancer treatments. She underwent a chemotherapy program, lumpectomy with sentinel lymph node removal, radiation, targeted immunotherapy and hormone therapy to treat her cancer. 

Kimberly loves a good dino, and her 'Brontes' kept her good company during her cancer treatments.

After completing her cancer treatment, the priorities in Kimberly's life shifted, as many cancer survivors experience. Wanting to share her unique passion and skillset for bras and bra-fitting, along with her own complicated journey with her breasts with the world, she decided it was time to open Kimtimates, a retail lingerie boutique and eCommerce site focused exclusively on the full-bust section of the industry, and to connect directly with those requiring assistance with their full-bust needs. 

Kimberly has always been drawn to the intimate apparel industry and has made 'big bras' her life's work. Her goal is to one day have multiple stores and build her own full-bust lingerie brand. Big bras are already in the works!