Gillian Ridley Whittle is an entrepreneur, innovator and passionate agitator for change in women's health, challenging decades of accepted thinking about women's bodies, comfort and wellbeing.
With over 30 years at the forefront of international fashion and retail, including senior leadership roles at Marks & Spencer, Topshop, Target and Myer Australia, Gillian built a career creating, transforming and leading businesses. But increasingly disillusioned with the relentless cycle of fast fashion, she stepped away from the corporate world to build something with greater purpose.
In 2022, she founded Peachaus, initially as an ethical underwear and lifestyle brand. What followed was an unexpected discovery that would fundamentally change the direction of the business and ignite a much bigger mission.
Through thousands of conversations with women and hands-on bra fitting experiences, Gillian uncovered a deeply overlooked issue: the majority of women are wearing the wrong bra size, often experiencing discomfort and pain, yet professional fitting remains inaccessible to many and is rarely considered an essential part of women's health.
She began asking a simple but provocative question: How can something worn against a woman's body for most of her life still be treated purely as fashion rather than something fundamental to her health?
Today, Gillian is leading the transformation of Peachaus from an ethical product brand into an innovative, service-led women's health and wellbeing business. Through its pioneering workplace programme, proprietary fitting methodology, breast health education and emerging community Ambassador network, Peachaus is taking expert fitting directly to where women are.
Her ambition is to fundamentally change the way society thinks about bras and breast wellbeing, establishing professional fitting as a routine annual health practice for women, from puberty onwards, and reaching one million women by 2030.
Combining deep commercial expertise with creative intuition, empathy and relentless determination, Gillian is challenging established retail models, reimagining access to women's health services and building a scalable business designed to deliver both commercial success and meaningful social impact.
She is not simply reinventing bra fitting. She is challenging generations of neglect and creating an entirely new approach to women's everyday health.
