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A trailblazer in fashion, social entrepreneurship, and women’s health, Woods is the founder of Mayana Genevière, a Toronto-based ethical lingerie brand that’s doing far more than creating beautiful undergarments. Since launching in August 2010, Woods has used her work to challenge societal norms, dismantle harmful taboos, and elevate conversations around birth, breastfeeding, and the evolving experiences of women.
Her brand Mayana is described as “A social enterprise on a mission to challenge harmful stigmas around bodies, birth, and breastfeeding.” The mission is front and center on Instagram, and also comes to life on the company’s website, mayanageneviere.com. It’s here that visitors learn about the company’s sustainable materials, studio-level craftsmanship, and bold purpose.
“I created Mayana not just to make beautiful, functional intimates, but to spark critical conversations,” Woods explains. “My mission is to pull back the curtain on how: fashion, capitalism, and cultural narratives have shaped, and harmed, women’s health, identity, and liberation.”
This commitment has led to the creation of what Woods calls “The world’s first and only true-to-size, clasp-free nursing bras.” She holds six patents aimed at redefining comfort and accessibility for breastfeeding women, an achievement born not just from innovation, but from lived experience.
On LinkedIn, Woods outlines her purpose in clear terms: “I design sustainable, ethically made-in-Toronto intimates, actually made in our studio. We create an experience that is true luxury, postpartum, peri/menopause, post-cancer, or fuller cup. We specialize in supporting the ever-evolving journey of women and their bodies.”
She isn’t exaggerating. With over 15 years of industry experience and personal insight, Woods is uniquely positioned to speak at the intersection of fashion, health, and justice. Her areas of focus are wide-ranging, including:
- Slow Fashion & Made in Canada
- Fashion & Anti-Racism
- Decolonizing Fashion & Feminism
- Breastfeeding Stigma & Nursing Justice
- Menopause & Breast Health
- Body Image & Capitalism
- Undergarments & Women’s Health
- Endometriosis Awareness
Each topic adds depth to her holistic approach, one that treats clothing as a tool for liberation.
In October 2022, Woods co-founded High Heels & Hot Flashes, a bold platform centering Black and racialized women navigating menopause. It adds another layer to her expanding portfolio of impact-based ventures. She also hosts events like Girls Night Out: Grown-Up Style, designed to help redefine midlife and menopause in empowering ways.
Woods has become known for her fearless storytelling. Karleen Pendleton Jiménez (writer, filmmaker, scholar, and educator) summed up Woods’ power best:
“I had no idea how many lives, histories, and nations go into making one beautiful piece of clothing. Nadine decolonizes fashion. She shows you the damage of oppression with real examples. You’ll never put on a piece of clothing again without thinking about the world. With grace and wisdom, Nadine challenges her audience to understand their responsibility as consumers.”
Woods doesn’t just talk. One of her signature campaigns, Bust the Stigma, is a grassroots storytelling initiative that brings women’s truths to the streets, literally. From a breastfeeding flash mob at a Blue Jays game to wall-poster sessions in public spaces, the campaign breaks silence and shame around women’s health. Topics range from postpartum healing and menopause to body positivity and breastfeeding.
“The goal is to create safe spaces where women’s voices are heard through bold public activation and community-driven storytelling,” she explains. “We’re shifting culture and destigmatizing women’s bodies one powerful moment at a time.”
Woods has shared her insights on major stages. She has spoken at: Shopify, the University of Toronto, Toronto Metropolitan University, and the Women’s Healthy Living Show. She’s delivered keynotes on everything from racial capitalism to ethical consumerism and breast health.
Her work has caught the attention of the media, including a May 2015 feature in Toronto Guardian titled “Mayana Genevière Lingerie by Toronto’s Designer Nadine Woods.” More recently, she was profiled in The Forum Pitch (September 2023), where her journey from new mom to ethical entrepreneur was chronicled.
In that piece, Woods opened up about how the idea for her business was born after struggling to find comfortable, functional undergarments as a new mother. The experience ignited a movement.
As a woman of color in the social enterprise space, Woods knows the uphill battle of funding firsthand. “Until we secure the right partnership,” she says, “We rely on our own resources and are incredibly grateful for the unwavering support of our community.”
A grant from the Canadian Women’s Foundation recently enabled her to begin a new series of bold, uncensored conversations around body literacy and breastfeeding. “We’re working with an amazing Toronto agency to amplify our message; look out for exciting things to come.”
Since 2023, Woods has advanced her purpose with precision. She’s built a brand that challenges the fashion industry’s extractive practices and offers a regenerative model grounded in ethics and empathy.
Her philosophy is clear: “I’m committed to building businesses that center people and the planet, not profit at any cost. I’m always open to connecting with those who share this vision.”
For Woods, undergarments are political, cultural, and deeply personal, and she’s not asking permission to make change.
To learn more about Nadine Woods and Mayana Genevière, visit: www.mayanageneviere.com
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With a last name that means “Faithful and loyal,” it is no wonder that Paul Junor has become a welcomed addition to the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper Team. Since 1992, Paul has dedicated his life to become what you call a great teacher. Throughout the years, he has formed strong relationships with his students and continues to show them that he cares about them as people. Paul is a warm, accessible, enthusiastic and caring individual who not only makes himself available for his students, but for his community as well.
