There's a casual acceptance of nudity on the beach when the body is conventionally attractive, but Monokini 2.0, a photo and fashion design project that aims to celebrate the transformed figures of women who have undergone single mastectomies, is changing the swimsuit game for breast cancer survivors.
Sirpa, the survivor featured below, was the first woman to be be photographed by Finnish photographer, Pinja Valja.
A few of the original designers had met Sirpa at the Finnish Breast Cancer Association where the idea started to form. Elina Halttunen is the artistic director of Monokini 2.0. She also rocks one breast. She perfected the original concept of a swimsuit that purposefully shows off the unique beauty of single-breasted women. The result is beautiful, powerful and inspiring.
The design collective's mission statement is clear. It hopes that the project "incites a positive self-image of breast-operated women by showing that you can be whole, beautiful and sexy even with just one breast or with no breasts at all."
When other survivors saw Sirpa's photograph, they contacted the designers to get involved and that's how the photo series came to be! On top of having beautiful images that highlight their body confidence, these models will wear the swimsuits at several runway shows.
© pinjavalja.com
Elina, one of the featured models, is so grateful to be a part of Monokini 2.0.
The photographs will have exhibits in Finland, Sweden, and Norway. To learn more about this project, visit Monokini 2.0 and consider donating to the Kickstarter campaign beginning May 30th!
Would you like to see the monokini on American beaches? Tweet us @sofeminineUK.
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