The Designer:
Catalina Bernal Schmid

Catalina Bernal Schmidt approached the project with firsthand knowledge of the physical realities women experience during postpartum healing and recovery.

As both a medical professional and founder, she brought a clear vision for creating products that addressed real recovery needs while still feeling comfortable, wearable, and thoughtfully designed. Catalina remained collaborative throughout development and understood the importance of moving carefully through each stage of the process.

The Problem & Opportunity

Many recovery products prioritize medical function while overlooking comfort, appearance, and overall user experience.

Catalina wanted to create products that better supported women during postpartum recovery while still feeling practical and wearable. The collection included supportive recovery pants designed to hold cold/hot packs at both the front and back of the body, an elegant nursing wrap top for breastfeeding access, and a scar-treatment serum developed for post c-section recovery.

The opportunity was to transform these ideas into production-ready products that balanced functionality, comfort, and manufacturability.

The Goal

Develop a postpartum recovery-focused product line that combines medical functionality with thoughtful design, and prepare the products for manufacturing.

The Project

The project began with concept refinement and digital visualization before moving into sewn sample development and iterative testing.

Multiple rounds of sampling helped evaluate fit, comfort, support, and overall functionality. Early samples also revealed opportunities for material improvements, leading to revised sourcing and updated sewn samples.

As development progressed, the project expanded into graded sizing, technical package creation, label development, and manufacturing coordination. Heather also connected Catalina with her patent attorney so she could receive guidance around protecting the product concept during development.

Once finalized, the project transitioned into manufacturing support with Lefty Production Co., including pattern transfer and technical coordination during production setup. central to the development process.ng production feasibility.

The Obstacles

While the project did not face major setbacks, the process involved extensive detail and coordination.

Because the products were intended to support physical recovery, material performance and construction functionality were especially important. Early sewn samples identified fabrics that were not performing as intended, requiring additional sourcing and refinement.

The project also involved coordinating technical documentation, labels, manufacturing preparation, and patent-related considerations simultaneously throughout development.

The Process

Concept Development and Product Planning

Initial concepts were refined to balance recovery-focused functionality, comfort, and usability.

Sampling and Material Refinement

Sewn samples were developed and evaluated to assess support, comfort, and construction performance. Material revisions were made after early testing.

Intellectual Property Support

Catalina was connected with Heather’s patent attorney to explore intellectual property protection related to the product concept.

Technical Development

Patterns were refined, graded size ranges were created, and production-ready technical packages were developed for manufacturing.

Manufacturing Transition

Finalized development materials were transferred to the manufacturing team, with technical support provided throughout the transition process.

The Timeline

The project unfolded over an extended development timeline, allowing time for refinement, testing, and production preparation.

Outcomes

Through a structured and collaborative development process, Catalina successfully transformed her ideas into a production-ready recovery collection.

The project highlighted the importance of testing, refinement, and coordination when developing recovery-focused products.

Conclusion

Luna Azzurra Care reflects the intersection of medical insight and technical sewn-product development. Through careful refinement and collaboration, Catalina was able to develop products designed to better support women with pelvic/period pain and through the postpartum recovery process.

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