VivaTech Special Feature – Shao-Hua Huang, CEO, Cocoon Bravolution

Shao-Hua Huang

With over a decade of experience in fashion management, Shao Hua Huang specializes in data analytics, business strategy, and operational optimization. She founded Cocoon Bravolution Ltd., an AI-powered bra recommendation platform that leverages data to enhance customer fit and shopping experiences. Her expertise includes sourcing, retail operations, inventory management, logistics, and product development, alongside extensive experience in entrepreneurship and event organization. She is dedicated to driving innovation in fashion technology and contributing to the evolution of the lingerie industry.

SH: I am Shao-Hua Huang, founder of Cocoon Bravolution Ltd.. My entrepreneurial journey began with a very personal experience: my mother’s breast cancer diagnosis. While accompanying her through treatment, I witnessed firsthand how difficult it was to find comfortable, well-fitting bras. The experience revealed significant shortcomings in the lingerie industry, particularly for women whose body shapes fall outside conventional sizing standards.

Coming from a fashion apparel background, I realized that many consumers are underserved by existing lingerie offerings. The market often lacks inclusivity and fails to address the diversity of women’s bodies and needs. This motivated me to explore bra structure, design, and fitting in greater depth.

Later, during my Master’s studies in London, I researched how 3D body scanning technologies could be integrated into bra shopping and manufacturing processes. This work ultimately led to the creation of Cocoon Bravolution. Today, we focus on fit intelligence rather than simply assigning a size label. Our goal is to provide personalized recommendations that take into account body shape, comfort preferences, lifestyle, and individual needs throughout the entire shopping journey.

SH: The fundamental problem lies in lingerie sizing. Size labels are highly inconsistent across brands, and even when the size appears correct, it does not necessarily guarantee a good fit.

The customer journey is fragmented because important factors such as comfort preferences, lifestyle, fabric choices, and bra structure are rarely considered during the purchasing process. Industry studies suggest that approximately 80% of women wear the wrong bra size, creating uncertainty and reducing consumer confidence.

At Cocoon, we aim to empower women by helping them better understand their bodies. Our core innovation is the Fit Passport, a dynamic profile that evolves over time and reflects changes associated with life stages such as puberty, pregnancy, or aging.

Rather than functioning as a simple sizing tool, we are building an ecosystem that enables better communication between consumers and brands. Our data-driven solution helps both sides better understand fit requirements while improving customer satisfaction and reducing inefficiencies throughout the intimate apparel industry.

SH: Most existing solutions focus on assigning a size. However, a size alone does not accurately predict fit, especially when sizing varies significantly across brands and product categories.

Our Fit Passport and fit-mapping technology go beyond measurements. We analyze body shape, comfort preferences, lifestyle, and intended usage to provide highly personalized recommendations. The system continuously evolves through user feedback, creating a dynamic fit profile that becomes more accurate over time.

We also enable cross-brand size translation, helping consumers navigate inconsistencies between brands. This significantly reduces product returns and improves sustainability by ensuring that purchased products are actually worn and enjoyed.

For brands, our platform provides valuable customer insights that support product development, inventory planning, and design decisions. Rather than relying on assumptions, brands can make data-informed decisions based on real customer profiles and needs.

SH: Cocoon has now reached a stage where we collaborate with both international and local brands, and we believe our solution addresses a global challenge rather than a purely local one.

VivaTech is one of the few events where artificial intelligence, retail, fashion, and innovation converge. It offers a unique opportunity to participate in discussions about the future of fashion and human-centered technology.

We also applied to the LVMH Innovation Award because our solution aligns strongly with themes such as sustainability, personalization, and premium customer experience. Given the significant product return loses in the lingerie sector, we believe the industry urgently needs new approaches to fit and personalization.

France and Europe are particularly relevant markets because of their leadership in fashion, luxury, customer experience design, and sustainable innovation. Participating in VivaTech allows us to validate our vision on a global stage and position Cocoon as part of the next generation of fashion technology companies.

SH: Our primary objective is to establish strategic partnerships with brands, retailers, and ecosystem partners. We are particularly interested in understanding how European consumers and brands approach fitting and personalization.

Europe has long been at the forefront of sustainable fashion, making it an ideal environment for us to learn about emerging trends and industry best practices. We also see strong collaboration opportunities with startups working on complementary technologies such as 3D scanning, pattern design, and digital fashion solutions.

Beyond visibility, we want to become part of the broader conversation shaping the future of fashion and customer experience.

SH: As this will be our first international exhibition, we have invested significant effort in preparation.

We participated in a Gcamp program that helped us understand European business culture, partnership expectations, and networking practices. We have redesigned our pitch deck and refined our communication strategy to adapt to the fast-paced exhibition environment.

At events like VivaTech, capturing attention within seconds is essential. We have therefore prepared concise demonstrations and clear follow-up strategies for investors, potential partners, and startup peers.

We are also proactively reaching out to key contacts before the event to maximize meeting opportunities and ensure meaningful discussions during the exhibition.

SH: We believe the challenge we address is global. Our ambition is not simply to provide local fitting solutions but to develop a scalable fit-intelligence platform that can support fashion and lingerie brands worldwide.

VivaTech represents an important opportunity to validate our business model internationally and better understand the priorities of retailers, e-commerce platforms, and fashion brands in different markets.

We are particularly interested in launching pilot projects with international partners to test and refine our solution over the coming months. We also look forward to exchanging ideas with startups from diverse backgrounds and exploring opportunities for future collaboration.

SH: Absolutely.

Although fashion is not always the first industry associated with Taiwan, Taiwan is one of the world’s leading textile manufacturing hubs. The country has developed advanced technologies that improve manufacturing efficiency and sustainability.

French fashion brands excel in design, branding, and customer experience, while Taiwan offers strong technological and manufacturing capabilities. These strengths are highly complementary.

I believe there are significant opportunities for collaboration across the entire value chain, from supply-chain innovation to customer-facing technologies. Taiwan’s growing fashion-tech ecosystem can provide valuable solutions to international brands seeking greater efficiency, sustainability, and personalization.

SH: For me, Cocoon has always been more than a business. It is fundamentally a social-impact venture rooted in the desire to improve people’s lives.

Through our work, we have seen many women gain greater confidence and a deeper understanding of their own bodies. This reinforces our belief that technology should serve people, not simply maximize efficiency or profit.

I have also co-founded initiatives focused on women’s empowerment, breast cancer awareness, and body education. These experiences have strengthened my commitment to inclusivity and accessibility.

Regardless of age, gender identity, body type, or background, people deserve solutions that make them feel seen, respected, and confident. Lingerie is an intimate product, and discussions around it should prioritize comfort, well-being, and self-confidence rather than appearance alone.

Participating in international conferences and social initiatives has broadened my understanding of leadership, adaptability, and cross-cultural collaboration. It has also reminded me that successful innovation requires balancing technology with human needs.