A Krab Story

A surf retreat in Costa Rica, anyone ? Of course ! But for Marie-Ève, nothing was less obvious. The young mother had just undergone surgery, once again, and the risk of infection or phlebitis due to the altitude was real, not to mention the treacherous sun. But there are trips that become initiatory and that you can't refuse. This was one of them, and Marie-Ève had felt it.

“There’s no way I’m going to expose myself,” she said without a hint of doubt in her voice. “I started looking for swimsuits everywhere. There was nothing on the market and they were often not flattering for your figure! I ordered tons of them online. I still have the box: it’s full to the brim! There’s no way to get the right fit , the right size, or to be sure of the quality of the product against UV rays. Finally, I opted for a fishing sweater with a fish logo on it. I was floating in it!”

Drastic measures were needed for drastic measures. This escape was going to do her the world of good. While she had thought she had put cancer behind her sixteen years before, she had just re-lived hell. There was no question of another relapse.

It was time for introspection, calm, and to recover physical and mental health. During a solitary walk on the beach, Marie-Ève discovered a small pink crab in the middle of a cloud of black ones. “I was attracted to it, it flashed ! I leaned over and picked it up. It was empty! It was just its shell. But it was whole, even with its eyes!”

This little pink crab is Marie-Ève's precious treasure, like a child keeps a heart-shaped pebble in a box or under their pillow. So of course, she brought it back in her luggage. "The crab is like me. It wears its shell like I have to do to protect myself from the sun. I am convinced that it was there for me. Plus, I am a Cancer, the sign of the crab. What a boring sign name!" - Did you know that the word cancer comes from the Latin word of the same name which means crab? It was Hippocrates who compared cancer to a crab by analogy with the appearance of breast tumors with this animal when they spread to the skin - There is no such thing as coincidence, they say...

A swimsuit that really protects from the sun

Back in Quebec, Marie-Ève felt invested with a mission: “My anxiety became my motivation. I wanted to launch my own line of swimsuits and clothing that would protect against UV rays and be pretty, in which I would be comfortable, and all these other women too. After all, my next summers would be like this from now on. Why trade in your femininity on top of that? Krabéo gives meaning to what I have experienced.”

Marie-Ève started from scratch. “I had never done that in my life!” she says with a laugh. “Clothing, design, retail, inventory, marketing, sales, etc.”

She started doing research to find a fabric that, once wet, would not let any rays through. "It's scary to see labels that say they protect from the sun, but you stretch the swimsuit and you can see through it!" Finally, she turned to econyl, a material made from nets fished from the bottom of the ocean, and which, recycled with elastane, produces a minimum of greenhouse gases in its transformation and is very soft.

"I want products made in Quebec, eco-responsible and of quality, without toxic products for the planet, and for the skin. I need the seal of trust, to know that I am fully protected all day long." The young entrepreneur did not skimp on the means and even went to a textile laboratory to obtain the UPF50+ certification which blocks 98% of UVA and UVB rays.

Raising awareness one person at a time

UVB rays damage the outer layers of the skin, think sunburn. UVA rays penetrate the deepest: they are responsible for pigment spots, aging, wrinkles and skin cancers. Marie-Ève is an inexhaustible source of information on the subject: "there are 80,000 cases of skin cancer each year in Quebec, including 5,000 melanomas, the deadliest form. And there are just as many in hot countries!

Every sunburn is actually a defense mechanism. Children's sun capital is not the same as that of adults. The accumulation of sunburns changes our DNA. That's the problem!

The lack of resources and knowledge about melanoma and skin cancer is shocking. We need to raise awareness about how to properly protect ourselves from the sun. It's our lifestyle habits that need to change. Skin cancer is preventable!"

Marie-Ève has become a reference in the field. And she really wants to make a real difference. She knocked on every door. All the way to Paris, to the International Commission on Ozone. So on May 29, in collaboration with the Priorité Cancer coalition, she launched the documentary Doc.UV on skin cancer prevention. And Krabéo officially opened its doors on May 3!