I’ve spent a lot of time recently pondering the term ‘handmade’; it’s a difficult word to dissect at the best of times but becomes particularly complex in the realm of lingerie. As a lingerie designer, a large part of my brand currently relies on the notion that my products are ‘handmade’. Almost every garment that leaves my studio doors was sewn by me from start to finish. Yet as we […]
This year I had the opportunity to visit the design and production studio of Andrés Intimates, a brand that has been creating lingerie locally here in San Francisco since 1978. This is a brand with a rich history, and it’s heartening to see another space where truly local manufacturing is still succeeding. While touring the studio, I met the design team, flipped through color story and fabric books, and got a […]
It goes without saying that independent designers face more challenges in the lingerie industry than the brands with massive corporations behind them. Some of these challenges will appear obvious even to people with no interest in lingerie (be that a matter of funding or public visibility). This series aims to peel back the curtains on some of the more hidden sides of the industry: this week I’m looking at why […]
When I first discovered lingerie, Agent Provocateur offered me an exciting and boundary pushing new world of underthings. Although I still utterly adore many of their past designs, recent collections have felt a little flat in comparison. Older styles like ‘Maschina’ and ‘Marilyn’ are pretty much staples in my lingerie wardrobe but there’s been very little in their latest releases that I’ve felt strongly enough about to add to my collection.
When I first started my lingerie brand ‘Karolina Laskowska’ in the Summer of 2012, I was pretty optimistic about the future. The brand had begun with wholesale requests and my own online shop was doing far better than I’d expected. Everything was new and very little seemed more exciting than the prospect of finding more stockists and joining the lingerie world as a proper lingerie brand. Fast forward three years […]
