The Independent Brand Love-In
Every year we take part in the lingerie ‘Secret Santa’ with a host of wonderfully creative independent brands organised by Karolina Laskowska. It is an opportunity to get gifted some amazing lingerie and to help promote our community to the wider world. The world is becoming a more homogeneous place every day and by independent brands working as a community we can try to counter this as well as help foster creativity.
I was ill the week before Christmas and I popped into our studio on Christmas Eve and there was a parcel from Chile on my desk. I felt so curious. I didn’t remember ordering anything from Chile but there it was something all the way from Chile on the desk inmy office in London. I love it that our community is spreading so far and wide.
Inside it revealed that I’d got the amazing Toru & Naoko. They were generous enough to send me 3 sets as a gift. They were in a sparkly gift bag and each set was in cased in its own pouch (I’ve already used my 3 pouches for hair and make up products!) I love a bit of pretty but useful packaging.
My absolute favourite set was the Alexia Bra with Sharon Panties. These are so me. I love strappy sets. The fit was excellent. I wear a 34C/34D and despite not having any wire the fit felt very comfortable. I also really liked how the knickers had adjusters on all the strappy cut outs so they could be adjusted to my exact measurements.
What I noticed generally was the quality of materials and attention to design detail. There are lots of clever little twists to the design. I also liked how they had managed on The Tempest panties to make cotton panties feel glamorous. They are a lovely soft fabric but with daring detail. I haven’t seen this done before and it felt innovative.
Here’s a few snaps of me to give a feel of how good the fit is and how great the design.
Valentines will be on us soon so fuck homogeneity and shop independent. Here is a list of all the amazing brands in our community that took part. I hope you enjoy exploring their work.