Aisle (company)

Canadian female hygiene company

Aisle
Formerly	Lunapads
Industry	Menstrual products
Founded	1995; 29 years ago (1995)
Founder	Madeleine Shaw
Headquarters	Vancouver , Canada
Products	Cloth menstrual pads, underwear, menstrual cups
Website	periodaisle.com

Aisle (known as Lunapads from 1993 to 2019) is a Canadian company that manufactures washable feminine hygiene products,^[1] including cloth menstrual pads, period underwear, and menstrual cups.

Overview

History

The products were designed and created by fashion designer Madeleine Shaw in 1993. Shaw wrote the first business plan for Lunapads in 1994, and in 1995 opened a store and small production facility. In 1999 Lunapads was co-founded with Suzanne Siemens,^[2] an accountant that Shaw met at a community leadership course. The companies mission was "to create a more positive and informed relationship between woman and their bodies and the Earth".^[3]

Lunapads mentored AFRIpads,^[4] a project started to help resolve the issue of girls in developing nations missing school due to a lack of adequate sanitary protection and resources available to manage their periods.^[5]

In 2020, Lunapads rebranded as Aisle.^[6]

Description

Lunapads were a liner-on-top style cloth menstrual pad as opposed to the more common "envelope" style. The pads have two parts; a Pad Base which snaps around the underwear of the wearer and a Liner Insert which is inserted under two bands on either end of the pad. Each pad consists of two layers of cotton flannel base topped with a central pad made of one layer of nylon and two layers of cotton fleece with bands at either end to hold liners.^[7] This product was discontinued in 2020, and replaced with a design using technical cotton.

References

^ Wayne Visser (8 September 2017). The World Guide to Sustainable Enterprise: Volume 4: the Americas. Taylor & Francis. pp. 61–. ISBN 978-1-351-28454-7.
^ "Long-time menstrual business Lunapads catches global zero-waste wave". thestar.com. 2019-05-28. Retrieved 2020-12-13.
^ Herstory 2011. Coteau Books. pp. 78–. ISBN 978-1-55050-427-9.
^ Griffin, Jenny (November 18, 2014). "Keeping Girls in School Is This Startup's Mission". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
^ "How To Get Pads, Tampons, & Other Period Products During The Coronavirus Crisis". Bustle. Retrieved 2020-12-13.
^ Radin, Sara (May 6, 2021). "Why this period-care brand is offering a "cradle to grave" analysis". Vogue. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
^ America, Good Morning. "5 ways women are reclaiming their period products". Good Morning America. Retrieved 2020-12-13.

Additional sources

"Forget adding third floor, new plan calls for a 10-storey tower". The Vancouver Sun. November 1, 2007. Retrieved 2012-03-29.
Severinson, Peter (April 4, 2011). "Lunapads International Products Ltd". BC Business. Archived from the original on March 30, 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-29.
"BBB Announces 2011 Torch Awards Recipients". Better Business Bureau. October 27, 2011. Retrieved 2012-03-29.
Lau, Lucy (May 21, 2019). "Meet the Vancouver Businesses That are Fighting Period Stigma". Vancouver Magazine. Retrieved October 24, 2022.