The Cardrona Bra Fence. A Unique Project to Fund Breast Cancer Research

File this under things you didn't know you needed to know.....but are now glad you do.

From Amusing Planet: The Cardrona Bra Fence of Central Otago, New Zealand, began in 1999 some time between Christmas and New Year, when four women's bras were found attached to the wire fence alongside the road. It's not known who did it and why, but rumor is that a group of women were celebrating the new year at the Cardrona Hotel, and after leaving the pub late at night, they decided to take off their bras and hang them on the fence. The sight of female lingerie fluttering in the wind inspired more women to leave their undergarments, and by the end of February 2000, the original four were joined by sixty more. As news about the fence spread, even more bras started appearing. In the following years the bra population multiplied to thousands and the fence became a unique tourist attraction gaining worldwide attention.

On 28 April 2006, after discovering the fence rested on public road reserve, the local Council determined the bra fence was a "traffic hazard" and an "eyesore", and ordered the bras on the fence to be removed.

[But instead] The fence's removal led to an attempt to make the world's longest bra chain, at an annual festival in nearby Wanaka, later that year. The chain reached some 7,400 bras, over 100,000 short of the world record, but raised over $10,000 for charity [breast cancer research].

And the project took off from there!

Photo Credit: Ian Mackenzie

And from a recent visitor, Pablo Heimplatz: During our trip through New Zealand we found this sweet spot. All the bras are from visitors. This is a social campaign from the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation near Queenstown. They collect some money with a little box for donations. Greet opportunity to finance a little bit for the research to fight against breast cancer.

#bras