It was the height of the jogging craze. Jim Fixx’s “The Complete Book of Running” became a bestseller in 1977. Even President Jimmy Carter caught the jogging bug, lured by an accessible way to keep fit.

One of the millions of ordinary joggers quietly had a brainwave that would produce a now-ubiquitous symbol of female athleticism: the sports bra.

Lisa Lindahl had never been particularly athletic; she was the kid who’d skip gym class with her best friend. But working at the University of Vermont in 1977, she took up jogging to lose weight and found it empowering. In a phone call with her sister one day, Lindahl complained about the discomfort of running with a regular bra — wires chafing her skin, breasts bouncing painfully. Her sister jokingly wondered why there wasn’t a jockstrap for women.

She recruited her friend Polly Smith, her erstwhile fellow gym class truant who was working as a costume designer. Smith brought in Hinda Miller, a fellow designer, and the trio set out to develop a prototype that would be seamless, breathable, and provide compression.

Weeks of frustration followed. Trying to lighten the mood, Lindahl’s then-husband pulled a jockstrap over his head and joked he had solved the puzzle — and Smith had a lightbulb moment. Sewing two jockstraps together, she created a workable design.

Lindahl and Miller patented it and co-founded Jogbra Inc. in 1979. Miller secured a $5,000 loan from her father, investor funding, and manufacturing partners. They pitched the product to boutique shops and trade shows, figuring it could be a side gig.

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