An Introduction to Australian Lingerie

There is much said about the laid-back style of Australian women. While we do have hot summers and enjoy going to the beach, there is so much more to our style. Australian style is about comfort and simplicity. About taking a fashion piece and working it again with basics. About being experimental with colours and prints. We embrace technologies such as laser cutting and we love innovative fabrics, soft tailoring, and layering our look.

Australian women approach lingerie in a similar fashion. We have our favourite lingerie brand or two for our basics, and then we experiment with new or interesting pieces. While we love matching sets, like many women, we will also mix it up depending on what outfit we're wearing.

One of the most popular bra shapes in Australian lingerie right now is the contour moulded balconette with no padding. This shape offers Australian women modesty (we are not prone to showcasing our headlights) and the desirable rounded shape. I believe this is closely followed by the push up bra, which is more preferred at night. Our love of wearing bralettes is visible, and we often layer them as part of our outerwear or wear them at home for comfort. The least popular style in Australian lingerie is the underwire bra with no moulded cup, but I hope one day this will change!

The most important aspect of an Australian woman's choice of lingerie is comfort. Our technical designers excel at catering to this need. Often styles require months of work to perfect the fit. We check each measurement to the millimetre and fit as many sizes as possible to ensure only the best fitting garment goes to market. Due to our love of moulded contour cups, many of the larger lingerie brands pour time and resources into developing new and exciting technologies. Some of the best examples of these technologies can be found in Australian sports bras.

In Australia, the pool of smaller boutique lingerie brands are few, though there are established brands well-known overseas such as Elle Macpherson, Bendon, Pleasure State and Bonds. However, we do have a new generation of creative and amazing designers offering some exciting perspective. It is always inspiring to see an Australian brand doing well, especially as we often feel we are so far away from the rest of the world! The following is a snapshot of some Australian brands you may or may not have heard of... but that you should definitely know!

Berlei

Iconic Australian brand Berlei has been around for over 90 years. If you're unfamiliar with the name, there is a sweet timeline on their website, which you can view here. Berlei has been creating underpinnings for everyday wear for a long time, including the infamous 'sweatergirl'. However, I believe they are leaders in sports bras.

Utilising technology, they have moved with the times; their current offerings include ultrasonic fabrics, COOLMAX® linings, seamfree cups and padded straps. Berlei sports bras are tested by the AIS (Australian Institute of Sport) and come with a bounce rating. Some of their styles can even hold a heart rate monitor and an MP3 player!

Silent Assembly