Celebrities are out and proud about wearing shapewear and it seems Australian women are following suit. Melinda Oliver finds out what is behind this booming industry.
Modern women generally shudder at the thought of the tight, restrictive corsets worn by ladies in previous centuries, which were hauled in with criss-crossed strings to near breathlessness. Historical movies depict these as torturous contraptions, designed to define a tiny waist, push up cleavage, encourage good deportment and aid in winning a “suitor”.
In 2009, the premise behind corsets is alive and well in the form of shapewear. This highly competitive, lucrative market is attracting both celebrities and regular women across the world. Gone are the structured, cage-like garments of old.
In their place are a vast array of curve re-distributing body suits, slimming leggings, tummy-firming underpants, sculpting bras and thigh-hugging knee-length shorts that promise to work magic on the figure.
Other benefits, according to shapewear brand promoters, include providing an ideal foundation to streamline the figure under clothing and to eliminate visible underwear lines. Some also claim to improve circulation and provide maternity support pre- and post-baby. Comfort is also spruiked.
Shapewear players range from big US names such as Nancy Ganz and Spanx, to lingerie companies such as Jockey, Bonds, Ambra, Playtex, Wolford, Berlei and La Perla, which offer shapewear products in addition to their regular ranges.
Boutique players such as Australia’s Nearly Nude, Helen Rodrigues and Bella Bodies Shapewear are also making their mark on the industry, while celebrities such as UK stylists-cum-television personalities Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine and Hollywood television plastic surgeon Dr Robert Rey are also getting in on the act.
Shapewear is particularly prominent in the US, helped along by endorsement on mass audience television programs such as Oprah and Dr Phil. However, Bras N’ Things lingerie buyer Rebecca Roth says the segment is becoming increasingly successful in Australia. The lingerie retail chain stocks the Ultimate Body brand and Roth says it is looking to expand its offering over the next year or two.
“We notice it gets popular around [formal] time as people pick it up to wear under their evening dress to create a slim-line figure,” she says. “Girls who want to go out on Saturday night might buy it to drop a dress size. We’ve also seen an increase in brides buying it for their wedding.”
As brands compete for market share, innovative technologies are needed to stand out from the crowd. Research into new seamless products, better in-built support qualities, fabric weights, fabric composition and breathability is underway.
Emerging varieties in colours, shapes and length are endless, while quirky elements, such as Dr Rey Shapewear’s aloe vera enriched fabric to enhance skin moisture, are also in the mix. In addition, Roth expects shapewear elements to increasingly appear in swimwear.
Image is important and many shapewear creators are endeavouring to make products fashionable and appealing. Lucy Hosken, creator of Australian shapewear label Nearly Nude, says she intentionally focuses on designing attractive garments that complement fashion shapes and styles each season.
“I didn’t want ‘Bridget Jones style’ underwear. I wanted the marketing, the branding and the fashion to be stylish and to follow fashionable necklines and trends. We have halternecks, tanks and plunging necklines.”
Hosken launched Nearly Nude in 2005 with nine seamless pieces and now has 15 styles, with regular updates introduced.
The brand is stocked in 350 stores in Australia and overseas including Harvey Nichols in the UK, and it is soon to appear on Saks Fifth Avenue online.
Despite this success, Hosken says competition is rife and she is constantly researching innovations to stay on top.
“Shapewear is a really hot industry right now and in the next three to five years it will be the hottest category of lingerie,” she says. “The big companies are investing a lot of money into this area.”
Shapewear creators often claim their products help wearers visibly lose inches and kilograms, as well as streamlining the silhouette so outer garments fall smoothly over the body.
Bella Bodies Shapewear managing director Michel Schuhmacher says some of her products can reduce waist size by six centimeters. However, she emphasises the idea is not to conceal curves but to distribute them to “flattering” places.
“It’s about enhancing your curves and minimising the areas we don’t like, for example firming the tummy areas and cinching in the waist while enhancing the bust-line and firming the hip areas,” she says.
Schuhmacher launched her collection in 2006 and now has 150 Australian stockists and a number of international accounts. She explains the strength and elasticity of her products work to compress areas such as the stomach, then to stretch over the bottom to allow freedom of movement.
“With our Lovely Leg Leggings, we hold in the hips and thighs, control the lower tummy while allowing more space on the waist so we do not create another lump,” she says.
Lingerie entrepreneur Bruno Schiavi, founder of Australian company Jupi Corporation, works alongside Rey to produce Dr Rey’s Shapewear and believes celebrities are a key influence on the sector’s success.
Schiavi says actress Kathryn Heigel wore his shapewear on the red carpet at the launch of her latest movie, while Halle Berry and Brooke Shields are also fans of his products.
He believes another factor in the shapewear boom is that it provides a safe alternative to cosmetic surgery, with cosmetic surgery principles underlying the brand’s offering.
“I call shapewear weapons of mass reduction and weapons of mass seduction,” he says. “You can lose two to six inches, it depends on whether you choose light, medium or firm control. Liposuction can be $20,000 compared to $40 for shapewear, with no bruising and no downtime.”
Interestingly, young women aged 17 to 25 form a core part of the brand’s market, with extra-small his highest selling size in Australia and the US.
“But women [aged] from 17 to 70 are wearing shapewear. Women in their 70s wear it to support their back. Sales assistants wear the leggings to help circulation. Women are using it functionally.”