Her Sister Got Cancer. The Night Sweats Were Unbearable. There Was Nothing Beautiful Enough to Help. So She Built It.
Lara Smith spent 25 years sourcing textiles for Ralph Lauren, Gucci, and Canada's largest retailers. When her sister's breast cancer treatment caused brutal night sweats and nothing on the market could help her, Smith built Lusomé — a Calgary company that just had its cooling pyjamas validated by Harvard Medical School.
August 6, 2026 · By Justin Plosz · Calgary, Alberta · Business · 6 min read read
The Gap No One Else Was Filling
Lara Smith built her career inside the seams of the global fashion industry. She started at Ralph Lauren and Gucci, learning performance fabrics at two of the most demanding brands in the world. She rose to become a senior executive at some of Canada's largest retailers, eventually working in the women's division at the head office of Mark's — spending years sourcing innovative textiles from suppliers across the globe.
She understood what made fabric work. She understood what made women feel beautiful. And when her younger sister was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012, none of that knowledge helped her find what she was looking for.
The treatments — chemotherapy and radiation — plunged her sister into early menopause. Night after night, she woke drenched in sweat, unable to sleep, fighting for her life and losing her rest. Smith searched North America and Europe for sleepwear that could genuinely help. What she found was 100 percent polyester with chemical finishes — functional, maybe, but not something a woman in the middle of a cancer battle would want to wear.
"I thought it was criminal that she was having this horrible health battle and couldn't even sleep," Smith recalls. "So I went out to try and find pyjamas that could help her deal with the night sweats. But there was nothing beautiful that I thought would give her comfort."
Smith quit her job. She assembled the textile scientists who could build proprietary fabric technologies — not, as she is careful to say, "science theater," but advanced biobased blends engineered to regulate temperature and manage moisture before a person even starts to sweat. In 2014, Lusomé launched.
125 Boutiques, Oprah, and a Hostile Takeover
Within the first year of launching, 125 boutiques across North America signed on to carry Lusomé. Then came the Oprah Magazine feature, and the company's trajectory accelerated again.
Cancer treatment is not the only cause of the night sweats Lusomé was built to address. Perimenopause, menopause, postpartum hormonal changes, thyroid conditions, and medication side effects all produce the same effect — waking drenched in sweat, unable to sleep, in a body that feels like it is working against you. Smith saw quickly that the market she had built for was far larger than the one she had originally defined.
The pandemic created a different kind of crisis. Smith fought off a hostile takeover attempt and emerged with a clearer vision for what Lusomé could become: not just a sleepwear brand, but a complete sleep health system.
The Sweaty Pillow — her podcast — extends that vision beyond the product. Across roughly 30-minute episodes, she brings together doctors, thought leaders, and experts in menopause to provide support and resources that the healthcare system largely does not offer women going through these transitions. "Every woman will go through this transition in life," Smith says. "So there's a captive audience of people desperate to have support and resources that they're just not getting."
She is equally rigorous about the product claims she makes. "We can measure objectively in lab tests and quantify moisture movements and heat absorption. There's a lot of theatre with brands making false claims, and it really rocks my socks."
So she commissioned the science to prove it.
Harvard Says It Works
In February 2026, results from a clinical study conducted in partnership with Harvard Medical School confirmed what Lusomé's own testing had long shown: the company's proprietary cooling technology works, measured by the kind of objective methodology that the fashion and wellness industries rarely bother to pursue.
For Smith, this represents the completion of the circle she drew back in 2012 when she started looking for something beautiful that could actually help her sister. The product had to be beautiful — she was never willing to compromise on that. It had to work. And now it has clinical proof from one of the world's most respected medical institutions.
Lusomé is a Calgary company. Smith was living in Calgary when she founded it, working at Mark's head office when she started searching for what didn't yet exist. The company remains based there — a women's health business built on textile science, launched from a personal act of love, and now validated by the institution whose standard of proof is as high as it gets.
"I really started this company as a love letter to my sister and all the women suffering in silence from extreme health conditions that brought about night sweats," Smith says.
For anyone who has experienced this, or who loves someone who has, Lusomé's address is lusome.com.
Key takeaways
- Lusomé was founded in 2014 by Lara Smith in Calgary after her sister's breast cancer treatment caused severe night sweats — and nothing on the market was both effective and beautiful enough to help.
- Smith brought over 25 years of fashion industry textile expertise — Ralph Lauren, Gucci, and senior executive roles at major Canadian retailers — directly to developing Lusomé's proprietary cooling fabric technology.
- The company launched with 125 boutiques across North America in its first year and received a major profile boost from an Oprah Magazine feature.
- In February 2026, a clinical study conducted with Harvard Medical School validated the effectiveness of Lusomé's cooling technology — one of the few wellness apparel brands with that level of independent clinical proof.
- Smith survived a hostile takeover attempt during the pandemic and expanded the brand's vision beyond sleepwear into a complete sleep health system, including The Sweaty Pillow podcast.
- Lusomé is a Calgary-based company serving women experiencing night sweats from menopause, perimenopause, cancer treatment, postpartum conditions, and thyroid issues.
Frequently asked questions
- Who founded Lusomé?
- Lusomé was founded in 2014 by Lara Smith, a Calgary-based entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in the fashion and textile industry, including roles at Ralph Lauren, Gucci, and as a senior executive at major Canadian retailers. She founded the company after her younger sister's breast cancer treatment caused debilitating night sweats, and she could find nothing on the market that was both effective and beautiful enough to help.
- What does Lusomé make?
- Lusomé makes cooling pyjamas and sheets using proprietary biobased fabric technologies engineered to regulate body temperature and manage moisture before a person starts to sweat. The products are designed for women experiencing night sweats from menopause, perimenopause, cancer treatment, postpartum changes, thyroid conditions, or medication side effects. The cooling technology has been validated in a Harvard Medical School clinical study.
- Is Lusomé a Calgary company?
- Yes. Lusomé is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Founder Lara Smith was living and working in Calgary when she founded the company in 2014, and the company continues to operate out of Calgary.
- Has Lusomé been clinically proven?
- Yes. In February 2026, results from a clinical study conducted in partnership with Harvard Medical School confirmed the effectiveness of Lusomé's proprietary cooling technology. Smith has consistently prioritized objective, lab-measurable claims over the marketing-driven assertions common in the wellness industry.
- What is The Sweaty Pillow?
- The Sweaty Pillow is a podcast hosted by Lusomé founder Lara Smith. Each episode brings together doctors, thought leaders, and experts in menopause to provide support, resources, and evidence-based guidance for women going through menopause and related transitions — topics that mainstream healthcare often underserves.
- Where can I buy Lusomé products?
- Lusomé products are available online at lusome.com. Within its first year of launching, the brand signed with 125 boutiques across North America. The brand received a major profile boost following an Oprah Magazine feature.
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