A cut above

Matthew James has heard all the clichés.
A bum rap. A cheeky solution. A rear view. But after nine months as director of a company with the unusual title of Backless Lingerie, such responses only serve as proof the marketing tools he has engaged are finally making their mark.
Designed by New Zealander Jan Digney, now based in Queensland, backless lingerie is a new style of underwear for women that boasts neither a back panel nor a waistband. Instead, two adjustable straps, similar to bra straps, fit under and around each thigh to lock the garment in place and prevent it sliding up.
James, who together with partner Simon Tolhurst holds the international licence for the brand, says Digney came up with the concept after tiring of seeing her 20-something daughters - as well as a host of others - wearing low-cut jeans and tight dresses with the top of their g-strings or other underwear on public display. The conservative Kiwi felt the visible panty line (VIP) look was "unattractive" and set about fashioning an alternative.
Some months and several thousand dollars later, Digney was able to trial a prototype on a group of 200 women aged from 14 to 73, where the garment proved a comfortable and practical alternative to others on the market.
Having been on the market just under two years, and retailing for between $16.95 (the cotton/elastine version) and $19.95 (the lace version), James says there is now a 50/50 split between men buying for their wives and girlfriends and females buying the product for themselves.
"The boys find it attractive but some of the girls, at least at first, appear a little unsure. I don't know of a single girl that thinks their bum is perfect [but] if they can get over that 'wahhhhhh' factor, eventually they feel like they're not wearing any underwear at all."
To date the brand has sold more than 2,000 pairs of knickers - its largest markets being Germany, the UK and New Zealand, where distributors have imported commercial qualities. In the US, a US dollar site (backlesslingerie.com) is also helping to drive sales, while James & Tolhurst have spent nearly three of the past six months abroad attempting to seek licensing deals in China, South Korea, South Africa, Israel and Poland.
Having patented her idea some time ago, Digney featured on the ABC's New Inventors Show earlier this year, resulting in the brand lifting its profile to begin having an impact at a local level.
With a network of agents and boutique lingerie stores already in Australia, James says the company is in "negotiations" with several large retailers to stock the product, including surf wear label City Beach and womenwear retailer Portmans, both of which he claims have taken preliminary orders.
With the high cost of advertising and marketing, together with the costs of setting up its patent and investigating breeches of it in the Chinese market, James admits Backless has yet to become profitable.
He says the high cost of manufacturing locally keeps the brand's profit margin within 5% of its wholesale costing.
However, the brand has several new initiatives planned, which it is hoped will help reverse the trend and ensure continuity of current growth patterns. One of these saw the company enter into joint venture deals with companies with complimentary skills, contacts or products [including Perfect From], to share profit in exchange for greater market exposure.
Having sourced a new fabric from China, Backless will soon launch a new range made from embroided microfibre.
Digney is also in the midst of developing a new range for men in cotton-lycra and has teamed with the Queensland Department of Primary Industries to launch a new range of exotic offerings made from camel and goatskin.