This week Underlines had the chance to speak with Merlin Seeman of Symmetrista, bras designed specifically for women with asymmetrical breasts and continuing our special series on Challenges in the Changing Room. An idea that was in Merlin’s head for over 15 years, borne out of personal frustration and which was finally launched in early 2025.
Life before Symmetrista?
My professional background is in law, technology and entrepreneurship.
I am the Managing Partner at Hedman Law Firm in Estonia, where I work mainly with technology companies, founders, investors and cross-border transactions. I have spent much of my career advising start-ups through funding rounds, growth decisions and expansion into new markets. I am also a co-founder of a privacy compliance SaaS GDPR Register and one of the founders of kood/Johvi, a programming school for adults who want to gain new skills or change careers/
So in many ways, I have been very close to entrepreneurship for years. I have advised founders, invested as a business angel and built companies myself.
Symmetrista, however, is the most personal venture I have ever started. It came from my own experience of living with breast asymmetry and not finding a bra that truly worked for my body.
And so underwear?
I have had uneven breasts since I was a teenager. For a long time, I genuinely thought I was almost the only woman dealing with it, because nobody spoke about it. It felt too private, too delicate, maybe even too embarrassing to mention.
Like many women, I tried all the usual compromises. Removable pads. Tightening one strap more than the other. Avoiding fitted clothes. Choosing necklines carefully. Wearing bras that were “good enough”, but never truly right.
The problem with these makeshift solutions is that they never let you forget the issue. Pads move. Straps loosen. The bra shifts. You keep adjusting yourself throughout the day.
At some point I started wondering: why is there not a beautiful, one-piece bra designed specifically for women with asymmetric breasts? A bra you can put on in the morning and then stop thinking about.
That was the beginning of Symmetrista. It was not born from a market trend, but from a really,daily need that millions of women share, often silently.
What’s your brand’s DNA and when did you launch?
Symmetrista is built around comfort, confidence and discretion.
Our customer does not want a complicated or medical-looking solution. She wants a beautiful bra that fits her body, gives her balance and allows her to get dressed without planning her clothes around her asymmetry.
That has always been the heart of the brand: bras designed asymmetrically for asymmetric bodies, while still looking like elegant, everyday lingerie from the outside.
The idea itself has been with me for more than 15 years. The actual product development took years of measuring, prototyping, testing and learning. We launched once we had reached the point where we could offer a real, standardised product rather than a one-off experiment.
We officially launched 1.5 years ago.
What is different about designing/working in underwear?
Underwear is deeply personal. It sits close to the body, but also close to how a woman feels about herself.
From a technical point of view, a bra is a very complex product. A tiny change in the cup, strap, fabric, support or construction can completely change how it feels. With Symmetrista, the challenge is even more specific, because the left and right cups need to be different sizes while the outside appearance still needs to look balanced and natural.
We have developed specific moulds and construction methods that allow us to produce bras where one cup can be several sizes larger than the other. The engineering is hidden inside the bra, so from the outside it still looks like a normal, beautiful lingerie piece.
Emotionally, underwear sits very close to a woman’s confidence. Many of our customers have spent years adapting to bras that were never designed for them. When they finally try a bra that gives them balance without constant readjustment, the reaction is very powerful. It is not only about fit. It is about feeling feminine and comfortable.
A typical week?
There is no perfect typical week, but it is usually a full combination of law firm leadership, client work, Symmetrista and family life.
At Hedman, I work with our team, our clients and the strategic direction of the firm. With Symmetrista, the week might include product development, manufacturing discussions, customer feedback, investor conversations, brand decisions or planning our next market steps.
I am also a mother of two boys, and we have two Pomeranians, so home is lively as well.
My calendar is full, but I like building things. I enjoy the process of taking an idea that feels uncertain and slowly turning it into something real. Symmetrista requires a lot of patience, but every message from a woman who says the bra has changed how she dresses or feels makes the effort very real.
Before & After
Before & After
Before & After
Whom do you admire in the underwear industry?
I admire brands and founders who understand that lingerie is not only about how something looks. It is about how a woman feels when she wears it.
I especially respect those who take fit seriously. For too long, women have been expected to adapt their bodies to the product. I admire the people working the other way round: designing products that adapt to real bodies.
That is where I believe the future of lingerie should go. Better fit. More respect for different bodies. More intelligence in construction. More comfort without losing beauty.
If you were not working in this industry, what would you be doing instead?
Most likely, I would still be building something.
My background is in law and technology, so I would probably be advising founders, investing, or developing another product-led business. I am drawn to complicated problems, especially when the solution can make someone’s everyday life easier.
Symmetrista looks very different from my legal career, but the mindset is actually quite similar. You identify a problem, understand it properly, build the right structure around it and keep improving until the solution works.
Your greatest challenge?
The greatest challenge has been building a product for a need that many women have, but very few talk about openly.
According to a study we did in the UK a few years back, every fourth woman has asymmetry. But it is still surrounded by silence. Many women feel they are alone with it. That means our work is not only product development. It is also education, awareness and trust.
We cannot simply say, “Hey, here is a bra.” We first need to help women recognise that there is a product designed for them and that their experience is much more common than they may think.
The second challenge has been technical. We have prototyped one bra at a time, worked through product pivots and learned a completely new industry from the inside. There were no shortcuts. Looking back, I think the slow process was necessary. The product needed that level of care.
Proudest moment to date?
One of my proudest moments was wearing one of the early prototypes and realising, for the first time, what the product could truly change.
I was on an eight-hour flight to the US, and about five hours in I suddenly noticed that I had not adjusted my bra once. That may sound like a small thing, but for me it was enormous. For most of my life, I had been adjusting my bra almost unconsciouly throughout the day.
On that flight, I had simply forgotten about it!
That was the moment I understood what was possible.
My breasts looked balanced, the bra felt comfortable and I was not carrying that constant awareness in the back of my mind.
Worst move so far?
As a founder, you naturally believe that if you solve a real problem, people will immediately understand the product. But with Symmetrista, the topic is very personal. Many women have lived with asymmetry for years without ever discussing it, even with close friends. Some have never imagined that a bra could be designed specifically for them.
So one of the biggest lessons has been that we cannot only build a bra. We also need to build language around the issue. We need to create trust, openness and a sense of community.
That takes time, but it is important work.
Any other ambitions for the brand going ahead?
Yes. I would like Symmetrista to become a globally recognised brand for women with breast asymmetry.
We are starting with the Signature Bra, but the need is much wider. We want to expand into more styles, including more seductive designs, sports bras and eventually swimwear. This Autumn we are launching a nude colour, for example. Baby steps.
Breast asymmetry can be congenital, linked to hormonal changes, pregnancy, breastfeeding or breast cancer treatment. So the women who need this product are very different, but they share the same wish: they want to feel comfortable, supported and confident.
My ambition is simple. I want women to have real options. Not improvised fixes. Not compromises. Properly designed products that make daily life easier.
Time out?
Sport helps me clear my mind. I enjoy going to the gym, padel and golf, and I often listen to podcasts while exercising.
I also try to spend as much time as possible with my family. My life is fast-paced, so time out does not always mean doing nothing. Sometimes it means moving my body, being outside, or just being at home with my husband, our children and our dogs.
The one product you couldn’t live without?
My Symmetrista bra, red lipstick and blush.
Pet Hate?
When women’s real needs are dismissed as niche.
Breast asymmetry is often treated as a small or cosmetic issue, but for many women it affects how they dress, how they feel in their body and how comfortable they are in daily life.
The same is true in many areas of women’s health and women’s products. Female founders still receive less funding than men and sadly both male and female investors are still biased, avoiding female founded projects. If something affects women’s confidence, comfort and wellbeing, it deserves proper attention.
You can see Symmetrista’s designs at the Wonderland Show in London next month or contact them on merlin@symmetrista.com. https://www.instagram.com/symmetrista/
https://www.tiktok.com/@symmetrista1
