Bra repair invention strikes gold

Scott and Laura Dutton with the simple bra repair device

An inventor's device to fix bras when the underwire pops out has won two gold medals for invention of the year.

Scott Dutton, from Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, came up with a simple DIY device to fix his wife Laura's bra when the underwire popped out of the seams.

His prototype was turned into a marketable product with backing from the Welsh Assembly Government.

Bra Angel works by pushing the wire back into the bra seam and holding it in via barbed edges.

Its small plastic cap with barbed edges fits neatly over the underwire which is then pushed back into the seam and anchored in place by the barbs.

The invention beat competition from around the world after judges at the British Invention Show gave him gold for invention of the year and was also first in the consumer category of invention of the year.

Mr Dutton said he came up with the innovation after his wife had numerous bras ruined because the seam holding the underwire split in places and caused the underwire to be exposed.

Seam solution

At first he searched the web for a solution but found the only solutions on offer were from seamstresses in the US offering to sew over the seam.

Mr Dutton turned his original idea into a marketable product with the help of the assembly government's Wales Innovators Network which helps inventors.

He said: "I had tremendous support from the Innovators Network and there's no way I could have done all this on my own - or afforded to get this far.

"That helped fund some of the tooling needed and helped with patenting the product."