Supporting role

When it comes to underwear, bigger busted women have to put up with structures that could be described as draped scaffolding. And not only can these bras look ungainly, they are often uncomfortable. Their wearers point to that handful of flesh that gets squeezed unflatteringly under the arm.

But the bra retail market is worth £600m a year, even though women buy on average only two or three bras a year. This represents a considerable untapped market and it’s all to do with changing perceptions. According to market research company Mintel, “The future success of the bra sector depends on the ability of brands and retailers to convince women to have a ‘bra wardrobe’. Then even a tiny increase in the number of bras purchased per woman per year will provide a significant increase.”

In addition, as a nation we’re not only getting fatter, we’re also getting bustier – the women at least. Over the last ten years the average size has gone up from 34B to 36C.

Put these issues together, and it is easy to see why one brand is planning to exploit the situation. Charnos recently unveiled BioForm, a new design which is created specifically for the bigger bust – from November, FF, G and H cup sizes will go on shelf. But by introducing brand new technology, courtesy of product design group Seymour Powell’s concept, Charnos is also looking to shake the sector up.

The company has put more than two years and £1.5m into the research and development of this new product. Via Channel 4’s TV series Designs On Yourä, Charnos set Richard Seymour and Dick Powell the task of finding a new way of making a bra for the fuller figure. This product had to give good support, comfort and fit, while at the same time overcoming the usual problems associated with conventional underwire construction.

They came up with BioForm, an anatomically-profiled cup, formed from a hi-tech insert, and so doing away with underwiring completely. And for a revolutionary product, Charnos was after appropriate branding – something that would celebrate BioForm’s technological uniqueness. This was the task of branding and packaging group Lewis Moberly.

Since the so-called “bra wars” of the mid1990s, when sales exploded, the market has stabilised, says Mintel. This is partly because of “the proliferation of choice – in branding, styling and colour [which] overwhelmed the consumer,” says the research company’s 1999 report Bras and Pants. Remember when Wonder was followed by Ultra, and even Ultimo.

Retailers then began to divide up bra uses into three categories – everyday comfort, occasion glamour, and sport. This is not to say that women are prescriptive in what bra they wear and when, but it is the way in which the product is now marketed and presented at retail.

Lewis Moberly creative director Mary Lewis, who worked on the Jonelle brand previously, describes the imagery that typically goes with these types: for the everyday bra, a model might be photographed on the phone, while a model in an active bra could be doing the hoovering. “I have a horror of bra imagery,” she says.

So the consultancy created a pack image out of the shape of the brand’s unique selling point – its moulded plastic technology.

Although BioForm is not too pricey – it will retail at £35 – this approach to branding should give the product a perceived value through its technology. This contrasts with the position other manufacturers have found themselves concerning pricing. According to Mintel, “There has been a continuing trend to enhance the basic fibres which have traditionally been used in lingerie.” But Mintel also concedes, “The average consumer does not recognise the technical benefits of fabrics containing such fibres, so retailers have not felt able to raise prices. As a result, more value has been added to lingerie products, while prices have remained flat.”

Some other retailers are also aware of the blandness that has crept in, and are dealing with it in different ways. Wickens Tutt Southgate has recently branded Splendour.com, an on-line lingerie retailer positioning itself for “people who would like to buy La Perla, but can’t afford it”, according to WTS creative director David Beard. The Splendour packs use no imagery of women at all. Fold 7 has designed the packaging for Ted Baker’s bra and underwear range for the past year. The model’s face cannot be seen in any of the pack photography, which is in line, says creative director Ryan Newley, with Ted Baker’s policy of not putting a face to the brand. “We were trying to produce something that looked different from other underwear, and to create an identity.” He describes the mood of the imagery as sensory and rich, but unreal.

While imagery can be improved upon, it is more difficult to overcome the problems of actually displaying bras in-store. In general, while smaller, pretty bras are hang-sold on rails, bigger merchandise is kept hidden away in its box. If you are an own-brand retailer such as La Senza, this doesn’t matter. Charlotte Stevens, the chain’s marketing coordinator, says none of the bras are boxed, because “it’s always difficult to see what they look like.” But it’s not so easy to shout about your brand in a crowded department store from a hanger. These boxes usually get opened and damaged. “The bra sector is confused, and in the stores, everything’s a jumbled mess,” says Beard at WTS, which branded Ultra Bra in the 1990s. “There has got to be a way of showing these products to their best advantage, rather than slumped on a rail – so it’s an interiors job.” Brand owners try to solve this by creating their own merchandising units, just as Charnos is doing for BioForm.

Lewis Moberly has turned this to BioForm’s advantage, by creating packaging that doesn’t tear and by its look, which actually encourages shoppers to open it. The packs are transparent, with an easy-open structure. Meanwhile, Splendour arrives in a WTS-designed wallet, encouraging the purchaser to look after her new item.

But while most brands are trying to encourage consumers to up their annual new bra quota, and preferably make that purchase one that fits (apparently 65 per cent of women are still wearing the wrong size), other brands have positioned themselves as a fashion accessory, with all the implications of that market.

“We are a mass market retailer,” and the market is driven by colour, according to Stevens at La Senza. “Customers come in once a week to buy a new bra because they’re going out on Saturday night. “Nowadays, it doesn’t matter if your bra shows, underwear is the ‘in’ thing,” she says, adding that, “The cleavage has become the erogenous zone.”

In the mid 1990s, Mintel believed that there would be a much bigger role for such specialist chains. Knickerbox, Contessa and La Senza were all expected to do well. However, Contessa changed hands twice, and La Senza, which arrived from Canada, was bought two years ago with £10m worth of debt by Theo Paphitis, who also owns Contessa. Mintel’s research reflects this, reporting that “the share of the market held by specialist chains remains small”.

But more recently, their fortunes have changed. La Senza, having repositioned as a mass market retailer, is in profit. This repositioning is reflected in the in-store photography, shot by Mark Lawrence. “I’ve tried to make the imagery sexy or to show function and versatility,” says Stephens.

And 33-strong Knickerbox was relaunched in October with new in-store imagery, having been bought out of receivership in April by Ann Summers. Although no new merchandise will appear in-store, there are plans to expand the chain and make it more cutting edge.

The variety stores have also had a tough couple of years, with the market polarising into value for money merchandise at retailers such as BHS and supermarkets, and higher priced fashion brands in the department stores. BioForm will have a foot in both camps. In the department stores it will sit alongside the other big players, Triumph, Gossard, Berlei, Playtex and parent brand Charnos. And it is also going into Marks & Spencer stores, with M&S packaging. Despite the chain’s problems, it still holds 49 per cent of the market by value. M&S also plans to open three lingerie boutiques in Europe and buy the licence for its Agent Provocateur-designed Salon Rose underwear. This shows that it is still a major player.

In the meantime, designers will continue to struggle with the contradictory cues of bra branding. Compare this with the relative simplicity of working in hosiery. As Beard says: “Legs are just easier to work with.”

BioForm, designed by Seymour Powell, branded by Lewis Moberly

BioForm is the brainchild of product design group Seymour Powell, which was tasked with creating a supportive, comfortable bra for bigger busted women and overcoming the traditional problems associated with underwiring.

The consultancy worked with Charnos’ in-house designers and product engineers at product innovation consultant Pankhurst Design and Developments, as well as Ove Arup. Two years of development and £1.5m later, BioForm boasts an insert made of plastic polymer.

‘Because Charnos had a revolutionary product, it felt it had a blank sheet of paper with the branding,’ says Mary Lewis, creative director of Lewis Moberly, which branded BioForm. Tony Hodges, brand chairman of Charnos, says of the packaging: ‘We wanted something intriguingly techie, while conveying the benefits of the product. We wanted the pack to be revolutionary.’

Lewis describes the name, which was originated by Charnos as ‘disturbingly different, to deflate all the claims’ of its Ultimate and Ultra competitors. ‘Bio’ has healthy associations and implies ‘new science’. ‘Form’ relates to the body, ‘so there is a truth in the name, it’s not a marketing trick’, says Lewis.

The consultancy did away with model shots on pack, again to differentiate its product. A box was designed which actively encouraged shoppers to open it by its sideways opening. The colour of the item can be seen through the transparent side of the box. The box is untearable and recyclable. The name has been locked into the bra’s shape, and the logo put on the product, by embossing it on the plastic. ‘We have put the inside on the outside,’ says Lewis, ‘The response we want is that it’s an amazing pack. And it’s very hard to copy because it’s not a girl swinging a tennis racket.’ Meanwhile, product information starts with the cup size, as ‘the D cup woman searches by letters rather than numbers,’ says Lewis.

Charnos has done a whistle-stop tour of the country’s department stores, putting on events for lingerie department staff to introduce them to BioForm so they can try it on for themselves. BioForm’s advertising is through agency MBA.

Splendour.com, branded by Wickens Tutt Southgate

Launched in September, www.splendour.com is a luxury lingerie brand marketed exclusively over the Internet. Its goal is to make designer lingerie available to everyone for the first time. Splendour.com products come in subbrands, including Actif, Boudoir and Opulence. It is backed by Marks & Spencer Ventures.

‘We had to make it look like a dotcom. If we’d had some scripty Victoria’s Secret approach no one would have gone near it,’ says WTS creative director David Beard. ‘Digital media [style] had an impact on the branding.’ Hence the use of a sans serif font for the logotype.

Beard describes the product as ‘very sexy and indulgent, and beautifully made’. The problem WTS needed to solve was ‘how to sell this stuff over the Web and manage people’s expectations. There’s a language of the Web and of lingerie that you have to adhere to,’ adds Beard.

So the consultancy has avoided using any imagery of women on pack. Instead, it has devised a wallet to keep the bra in. The website was designed by Lateral.