For years, the wellness conversation has centered on clean beauty, non-toxic skincare, and ingredient transparency — yet one of the most intimate categories in women’s lives has remained shockingly overlooked: activewear. While we celebrate the rise of clean formulations on our faces, many of us are still slipping into leggings made with PFAS, synthetics, chemical dyes, and finishes never designed to sit against highly absorbent skin.
- Bring us back to the beginning. How did the idea for Skimpies first take shape?
- You’ve spoken openly about your health journey. How did that pivot your approach to the business?
- Your brand is described as organic, sexy, and safe. What does “sexy” mean in the Skimpies universe?
- What message do you hope Skimpies sends to women who are questioning what’s in their clothes?
Bette Bentley, the Los Angeles–based founder of Skimpies, created a brand born not out of trend forecasting, but urgent necessity. What began as a mother juggling two kids, breastfeeding, homeschooling, and living in leggings 24/7 during the pandemic quickly turned into a discovery that shook her: the leggings she practically lived in were full of chemicals and she was wearing them commando.
That moment sparked a movement.
In an intimate conversation with CEO and Founder of Skimpies, Bette Bentley opens up about the hidden toxins in leggings, her transformative health journey, the creation of Skimpies, and why the fem-care space is overdue for reinvention.
Bring us back to the beginning. How did the idea for Skimpies first take shape?
It really began in 2020, during peak lockdown. I was living in leggings, nursing one baby while homeschooling the other, doing everything I could to keep life efficient and manageable. Then I suddenly started getting UTIs, something I had never experienced before. I was going commando in synthetic leggings every day, and one night I finally stopped and Googled what these fabrics are actually made of.
What I found was alarming: layers of synthetic fibers, PFAS, chemicals, and absolutely no real innovation around how women actually use leggings. We wear them like underwear, yet nothing existed that was comfortable, seamless, organic, or intentionally designed to sit against the most absorbent skin on the body. Skimpies began with me simply trying to hack a solution and quickly realizing the industry had no interest in innovating.
When manufacturers literally hung up on me, that’s when I knew I had hit a nerve.
According to public-health research, PFAS and certain dyes in clothing represent a form of “hidden, everyday exposure” that can accumulate over time, with documented links to thyroid issues, immune effects, metabolic changes, and even some cancers. As Skimpies Head of Health, Mary Senkel, MSN, APRN, FNP-C from Johns Hopkins notes, “PFAS in clothing can be absorbed through human skin under the right conditions, allowing airflow with cotton fabric helps restore balance and skin health.”
What kept you going when every manufacturer told you “no”?
One woman in Germany was my savior. She worked at the oldest adhesive manufacturer in the world. She heard my idea and said, “That is a good idea!” She sent me cotton samples, adhesion tech, booklets, everything I needed to Frankenstein my first prototype. I knew I just needed one person to believe in me.
You’ve spoken openly about your health journey. How did that pivot your approach to the business?
I found a precancerous tumor in my left breast. Three weeks later, I had a double mastectomy.
I woke up knowing I wouldn’t have a third baby, knowing my life had changed forever.
From my hospital bed, I put down a deposit for the custom mold that would shape Skimpies. It was a moment of surrender and clarity and I literally said out loud, “God, my kids, my husband… and Skimpies.” And I meant it.
Your brand is described as organic, sexy, and safe. What does “sexy” mean in the Skimpies universe?
Sexy, to me, starts from the inside out. You can’t embody your full power if you’re stressed about what’s in your clothes or what’s sitting against your skin all day. For me, sexy is breathable, unbleached organic cotton—fabric that’s clean, free of toxins, chlorine, and PFAS, and that doesn’t bunch or roll when you’re picking up your kids or running around Disneyland. Sexy is the quiet freedom of feeling clean, confident, and completely at ease in your own body.
While clean beauty has taken off, the activewear space hasn’t kept the same pace. What’s driving that gap?
Because brands prioritize looks over health. PFAs make leggings sweat-resistant and durable but they’re harmful. And not everyone can afford $200 toxin-free leggings. I didn’t want to fix the leggings industry, I wanted to protect women wearing the leggings they already own. Skimpies creates an organic barrier where it matters most.
What message do you hope Skimpies sends to women who are questioning what’s in their clothes?
I want women to know there are founders who truly care. People that are creating products they would want their daughters, mothers, and closest friends to wear. You shouldn’t have to decode complicated labels or spend hours researching to feel safe in your clothing.
Clean, gentle, safe solutions shouldn’t be a luxury. They should be the standard.
With the creation of Skimpies, do you see this as part of a larger movement in women’s apparel?
Absolutely. The surge of nipple covers showed that women are looking for alternatives that work for their real lives and real bodies. The next wave is caring for the intimate areas that have been ignored for far too long, and doing so safely, stylishly, and without shame.
I may be one of the first to bring attention to this space, but I sincerely hope I am not the last. Women deserve more options, more innovation, and more thoughtful solutions for the products we wear closest to our skin.
As the conversation around wellness deepens, the hidden risks of “forever chemicals” in everyday clothing can no longer be dismissed as background noise. PFAS and synthetic finishes were never designed to live against the most permeable skin on a woman’s body, yet they’ve quietly become part of our daily uniform. Bentley’s innovation steps in where the industry has fallen silent. Skimpies offers a simple, thoughtful correction. A clean, breathable layer that protects women from exposures they were never meant to carry. It’s a reminder that real innovation doesn’t always start in a lab or a boardroom. Sometimes it begins with a woman paying attention to her own body, refusing to ignore the truth, and building the solution she couldn’t find.
