PS, It's What's Inside: Our Story of Giving Back to the Type 1 Diabetes Community
Pretty Simple has a give-back mission woven into its origin story. It didn't start with a marketing plan. It started with my daughter, at ten years old, being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.
What Is Type 1 Diabetes?
Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune condition where the body attacks the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. Unlike Type 2, it isn't caused by lifestyle. It's not preventable. And there is currently no cure.
Children and adults with T1D depend on external insulin, delivered by injection or pump, to survive. Every meal, every day, for life. It's a condition that shapes not just the person diagnosed, but their entire family.
The CURE Mittens: Where It All Started
Two years after Pretty Simple launched in 2014, my 10-year-old daughter Gracie was diagnosed with T1D. Our family shifted overnight, new medical routines, new normal, new fear.
The CURE Mittens grew out of that experience. They're hand-knit in crazy colors, because T1D deserves a conversation, not silence. Each pair comes in a reusable canister designed as a piggy bank, so families can keep collecting spare change toward a cure long after the mittens are worn out.
Every penny possible from our CURE Collection goes toward T1D research. We donate to nonprofits that support the type 1 community, like Beyond Type 1 and Breakthrough T1D. You can learn more about our mission and shop the full CURE Collection at prettysimplecure.com.
CURE Mittens
Hand-knit acrylic mittens with fleece lining. $40 a pair. Every penny possible goes to T1D research through our nonprofit partners. Comes in a reusable piggy bank canister.
Shop cure mittens
Our Beyond Type 1 Partnership Grows
The CURE Mittens were just the beginning. Our partnership with Beyond Type 1 has since expanded into our CURE x Beyond Type 1 Checkered Slippers, designed in the same spirit as the mittens: colorful, cozy, and made to start a conversation. Every pair helps fund T1D research.
CURE x Beyond Type 1 Slippers
Colorful checkered slippers designed in partnership with Beyond Type 1. Cozy, conversation-starting, and every pair helps fund a cure for Type 1 Diabetes.
SHOP CURE SLIPPERSOrganizations Making a Difference
Beyond Type 1 and Breakthrough T1D are two of the extraordinary organizations working on Type 1 Diabetes research, access, and community support. A few others worth knowing:
- Beyond Type 1, one of our nonprofit partners through the CURE Collection
- Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF), the largest T1D research foundation in the world
- The T1D Community Fund, investing $1.3 million in 2025 across 26 community-based organizations in underserved countries
Leah's Personal Why
I am both a cancer survivor and the mother of a child with Type 1 Diabetes. I've learned, sometimes the hard way, that strength, struggle, and fight are beautiful in their own ways. They shape us. They also connect us.
Pretty Simple exists because I believe that what's on the inside, the heart and unique spirit of a woman, is distinctively beautiful. Our bags are simply a way for that to shine outward. And our CURE initiative is the most direct expression of that belief.
Watch Our Story
Hear the story behind the CURE Collection in our own words.
How You Can Help
When you shop the CURE Collection, whether it's the mittens or the Beyond Type 1 slippers, you're doing more than buying an accessory. You're contributing directly to T1D research. Fill the mitten canister with spare change. Give a pair to someone who's been touched by T1D. Start a conversation.
Diabetes sucks. It's time to find a cure. One pair of mittens at a time.
Learn more and shop the full CURE Collection at prettysimplecure.com.
