Photo courtesy of courtesy of Cherry Blossom Intimates
Entrepreneurs Dr. Regina Hampton and Jasmine Jones are making it their mission to help breast cancer survivors feel confident and beautiful with the upcoming opening of their custom prosthetics and lingerie store in the D.C. area.
With plans to have a groundbreaking ceremony during D.C.'s Cherry Blossom Festival next spring, Dr. Hampton (Washingtonian Magazine's top D.C. region breast health doctor and surgeon) and Jones (Miss District of Columbia 2016) are opening their Cherry Blossom Intimates store in Woodmore Towne Centre in Glenarden, Maryland.Â
"I lost my grandmother to breast cancer my sophomore year in college," Jones told The Washington Informer. "I remember her having to go and shop for prosthetic pieces that didn’t properly fit and only came in one color while store employees stuffed her behind a curtain to try them on."
Eventually, Jones' grandmother stopped wearing prosthetic pieces all together, but Jones said she knew she had to do something to help ensure that her grandmother’s experience is not the experience of other women.
"I wanted to do something to change that, something that would allow all women going through this same journey to be able to do it with dignity and comfort, and that’s what Cherry Blossom Intimates is all about," she says.
To ensure that the pieces are made perfect for women of all ethnic backgrounds, a chest wall graph will be placed in the store that mimics the form of natural breast for prosthetics, nipple coverings, and petite to plus size lingerie in all skin tones and sizes.
Dr. Hampton, a Howard graduate and the originator of Cherry Blossom Intimates, came up with the vision after having practiced for over 10 years as one of the few breast care surgeons in Prince George’s County.
"Being able to help other people is so important and it makes you feel so good,” Hampton told The Washington Informer. "I just want to show women that they are all beautiful, no matter the package, and make them believe it." Â