A few lingerie specialists to check out at CurveNY.
SAPPHIRE BLISS
Stephanie Chen is using a tailor’s touch to give Sapphire Bliss a versatility that can transition between bedtime and cocktail hour.
Pulling from her past experience at sportswear companies including Polo Ralph Lauren, A|X Armani Exchange and Express, the designer strives to create multiuse pieces for her two-year-old intimates brand. For instance, a black baby-doll silk top has eyelash lace detail outlining the sleeves. Chen said for a stylish segue, the baby doll “can be paired with a beautiful lace bra and then a legging and stiletto and you’re out for the party.”
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Citing a modern yet timeless design strategy, she also hopes to promote her silk kimono for its updated fit that allows the piece to be “on trend, without being too trendy.”
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Showing at CurveNY for the first time (booth #325), Chen aims to increase retail distribution, as the company is now only sold in Azaleas NYC and Mel en Stel in New York, alongside its own year-old e-commerce site.
Her collection for spring includes lingerie as well as swimwear, with wholesale prices running from $44 for bikini separates to $184 for silk robes.
Eyeing $1 million as a sales target within a year, she’s ready to break out from being a small brand. She said if she can morph traditional ready-to-wear and sportswear fabrics like silk charmeuse into lingerie, then she feels ready for any challenge.
“I know how to manipulate a fabric from pristine and shiny to washed and drapy,” said Chen. “CurveNY is my next huge investment and I’m totally prepared.”
— Sarah Elizabeth Tooker
NEXT: Edge O’Beyond >>
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EDGE O’BEYOND
For Edge O’Beyond, design newcomer Naomi De Haan combines her twin loves of lingerie and jewelry into contemporary undergarments accented with gold-plated accessories.
“We’ve made something that’s very intricate and over-the-top, but wearable,” said the 24-year-old Brit about her line launching this fall.
With her spring collection (CurveNY, booth #424), De Haan stayed true to her European roots, sourcing fabrics from France and Italy for the bras, briefs, thongs and garter belts, as well as a slipdress and kimono, in a nude, black and gold palette.
“The fabric is the most important and expensive part of the whole process,” De Haan said. “We’ve experimented a lot with some really nice lace from France, with strips of Italian satin.”
Wholesale prices for the lingerie separates range from 20.34 British pounds to 46.90 pounds (about $35 to $80 at current exchange), with the slip and kimono priced at 90.26 pounds and 60.09 pounds ($154 and $102), respectively. Wholesale prices for the accompanying attachable jewelry options run for between 10 pounds and 24 pounds ($17 and $41). The brand aims to build business with specialty and department stores.
De Haan said, “We have around 4,500 individual pieces of lingerie being produced in Wales for our debut collection.”
Although she named her brand after her first family home on the coast of southeast England, the “O” in the middle coincidentally represents the 24-karat gold-plated rings that are hand-sewn into each garment, allowing for customizable attachments of draped body chains. Continuing the family theme, each set of lingerie is named after one of De Haan’s female relatives — Lyvie, Becca, Alexina and Karis, for instance — and jewelry pieces are named after the males, including Michael, Joshua and Benjamin.
“Family is the most important thing in my life,” De Haan said. “I don’t think my dad would forgive me if I named a bra after him, so I picked the most discreet piece of jewelry in his honor.”
— Rebecca Dancer
DOLLHOUSE BETTIE
San Francisco-based Dollhouse Bettie is appealing to women who yearn for nostalgic yet modern lingerie, all designed and manufactured in its hometown. For the vintage-inspired looks, theater costumer-turned-fashion designer Michelle Metens combined satin and silk fabrics with lace detail and sheer accents.
“That has always been our aesthetic,” said Metens, who started wholesaling after a decade of sourcing and selling rare vintage intimates online and in her retail store in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. “So if you can get to a place where you are selling vintage as an inspiration as opposed to a replication, then you can pull from those archive-type pieces and look at elements to include without just copying them.”
Showing at CurveNY (booth #522), the spring collection highlights several underwire bras ranging from elaborate silk styles with eyelash-lace trim to more practical nylon-based lace brassieres available in A through DD cup sizes. The palette is washed in black, blue, lavender and fuchsia. Wholesale prices start at $12 for a panty and run up to $125 for a jersey nightgown with crochet detail.
With 15 wholesale accounts under its belt, the brand plans to focus on acquiring more retail accounts on the East Coast and in the Midwest. Metens projects to grow sales by 5 percent to reach $1 million by the end of this year. Especially since it produces everything in the U.S., the brand is adopting a slow-and-steady strategy, refraining from expanding too fast into big business with department stores.
“One of the things that has kept us growing is that we don’t try to take on any more than we can handle at any given time,” Metens said.
— S.E.T.
SUKI COHEN
Unsatisfied with the wired constraints of many brassieres, Colombian designer Sarah Cohen set her sights four years ago on reinventing the traditional undergarment as a feminine battle shield. Meant to protect and empower the body, her lingerie line, called Suki Cohen, blends nylon with geometric details that outline the female figure.
“I like to have a strong look, like a warrior, so that’s why I always use stripes or lines,” said Cohen, who also created a black nylon bodysuit to display as part of an exhibition, titled “Exposed: A History of Lingerie,” at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology. “When you wear it, it’s like your armor. You feel tough and protected.”
Also channeling a warriorlike feel is the dark color palette for the separates and bodysuits. “I always use black because I feel that girls prefer to buy black,” said Cohen, whose nickname is Suki, adding that she also incorporates “some accents, like purple or coral.”
Since its launch in 2010, the Colombia-based label has garnered a following in its home country, Mexico, Singapore and Hong Kong. Cohen projects sales of $350,000 this year. The brand will display 60 styles wholesaling from $45 to $300 in booth #329 at CurveNY. Among them are bestsellers from past collections, such as a black bodysuit and bra top with parallel lines and geometric cutouts, as well as new pieces featuring metal ring details.
— R.D.