Around 190,000 people in the UK live with a stoma, according to Crohn’s & Colitis UK. For many, one of the first worries after coming home is a surprisingly everyday one – what to wear.
When you leave hospital with a stoma, you are given a lot of information about the bag – how to change it, how to look after your skin, whom to call if something goes wrong. You are given almost nothing about clothes. And yet getting dressed is something you come back to every single morning.
The waistband of many trousers and skirts sits right where the stoma is. Thin fabrics show the outline of the bag. Swimwear doesn’t hold it at all. So people start dressing to hide rather than dressing to feel like themselves, and some stop doing the things they love: swimming, the gym, a meal out with friends, being close to a partner.
That question, “What do I wear now?”, is where SIIL Ostomy began. Elena Gea and Santiago Collado founded the Madrid-based brand to design clothing for people with a colostomy, ileostomy or urostomy.
Get 15% off by using the code CRIPLIFE at SIIL Ostomy
Stoma clothing: clothes that look like clothes
“What people ask us for isn’t another medical product,” says Santiago Collado, SIIL Ostomy’s co-founder and CEO. “They want clothes that look like clothes. Underwear they feel good in, a swimsuit for the holidays, something that lets them stop thinking about the bag for a while.”
The range is built around three everyday moments:
- Belts: A soft stoma belt, for women and men, holds the bag close to the body, so it pulls less on the base plate and stays discreet under a T-shirt or a work shirt. Many people wear it to exercise.
- Underwear: High-waisted pants for women and men, cut so the waistband doesn’t sit on the stoma.
- Swimwear: Swimsuits and high-waisted bikinis with an inner pocket that keeps the bag flat, for the pool or the beach.
There are also wraps, plain or in lace, to wear under everyday clothes.
Read: Adaptive Fred Perry Shirt Launches: A Step Forward In Accessible Fashion
The part nobody expects when living with a stoma
“Clothing is only the means,” Santiago says. “What our customers tell us is that they’ve gone back to the pool, put on a dress again or felt attractive with their partner. The emotional side weighs more than the practical one. We don’t want anyone staying at home because they’re afraid it will show.”
The brand listens closely to the people who wear its clothes: reviews, messages and returns have shaped many of its changes to sizes and fabrics. It also works with stoma nurses, who are often the first people patients ask about clothes in the early weeks. The clothing doesn’t replace advice from a stoma care team; it is there for everyday life alongside it.
SIIL Ostomy sells in several countries, including the UK. Its UK range is at siilostomy.com/en-gb/stoma-clothing/. You can also get 15% off your orders by using the code CRIPLIFE at checkout. Offer ends 31st January 2027.
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