First launched in 2005, Vanjo was born out the frustration of not finding a comfy bra that fitted apart from in beige or white. Tired of unclipping my bra for every long haul flight and only finding soft bras in small medium or large, Vanjo became a brand that specialised in small backs, big boobs. I wanted my lingerie to echo my lifestyle and not compromise on my style. I wanted the lingerie to be fun; the type of lingerie you can wear and show. Show under dungarees, under a vest or simply stripping at the beach because you’re too hot. Life is too short to be conscious of your boobs or the practical lingerie you own.

It re-launched in 2018 with the collection Navigate your way home. The collection Navigate your home, comes from a place where you find yourself or where you’re meant to be in life physically or mentally. The re-launch of the Vanjo collection feels like it’s gone full circle, and relaunching the best selling shapes with a few new ones seemed like a natural progression to providing patterns. I’ve always missed designing and making my own lingerie so ten years after I closed the label down I’m re-launched it. Navigating my way home.

Being able to re-launch the brand has meant that the lingerie patterns are the same ones we use for the brand, allowing you experience lingerie that fits and is executed to the highest standard.

The original ethos behind the brand remains:

Made from Organic or Re-claimed fabrics - We will state if we haven’t been able to source this on the particular fabric we have used. Also any fabric or trim that is large enough still for lingerie to be cut out of or used, we keep them safe and when we have enough we either sell a whole bag for people wanting to do one off samples, or we give the bags away to students who always need scrap bits of fabrics for their source. Basically we never try throw anything away that can be used by someone else.

Made by hand in the UK - We don’t hold stock on anything, everything is cut and hand made to your order, it takes a bit longer that way however that means that some poor person is not stuck on the same machine, sewing the same style seam over and over and over and over and over (you get the picture) and over again. The joy you get from wearing Vanjo needs to go as far back as to the maker. This also means if you want to alter the bra slightly and bespoke to yourself, just let us know and we can accommodate your needs before we make it.

Made for wandering & adventures - With no wires and no padding means easy packing, comfort or just simply not wanting to throw off your bra the moment you walk into your house from work.

Made for the sake of support - Everyone has been there, bought a great looking bra only to find it doesn’t fit right, see the ‘Technical part’ below for explanation of how our bra works.

Made in the interest of bra size 26C - 34FF - These sizes are what we specialise in and what we have done fitting trials in and sourced our fabrics for. If you fall out of this size range please contact us and email us your size you’re requesting and we’ll let you know if it is possible in the styles we have.

And made for you to make - Some of the range you will be able to buy the exact patterns that are used, so you can create and make your own lingerie.

How vanjo is made - the technical part

Lingerie should be well made to support and last. And whilst we are not making any wild claims that we are the best fitting lingerie out there (never trust a brand that does, there are too many different types of boobs to ever fulfil that claim), we can tell you how and why our lingerie made.

THE BRA

All of our bras are fully lined, don’t get me wrong I love barely there lace but with the weight of a breast that needs supporting, but just stretch lace is not going to cut it.

The outer part of your breast is the heaviest part, so the inner part of the fabric stretches in a different direction to the outer fabric to create more support. The wings are lined as the main support should come from the under-band, but who just wants boring plain wings? Not us, so by lining them we can choose the outer part of the fabric.

The centre of your bra if made in stretch, is not only is lined to match the rest of the bra, but denier is inserted between the two fabrics so it doesn’t stretch and will give you support.

By lining everything, not only does that make no seams on show to rub, it also means that where natural stress occurs on the bra, we have be able to do extra stitching on the bra sewing the two pieces together, ensuring that your bra lasts longer. This mainly occurs where the cups meet the under-band (two rows of stitching have been added there) and where the cups meet the wings.

Elastic has also been thought out and is definitely not an after thought, all the elastic needs to stretch a certain amount (and not stretch a certain amount) and have a good recovery. Whole cute designs have been scrapped at the wearing fitting trials due to the elastic not being right.

THE BRIEF

Where it is able the side seams of the brief is top stitched down after being overlocked, this is usually an occurrence on the briefs made out of mesh or lace, this not only gives you a flat seam side and nicer inside finish, but also makes your lingerie last longer. We are unable to do this with the cotton/elastane briefs due to that they would make the seam go wavy were we to add another sewing process on top of the overlocking.

HOW TO CARE FOR your VANJO’s

We recommend that all lingerie is hand washed , it may be time consuming but it does keep your Vanjo’s in tip top shape. Due to body heat, and continuous wear the elastic can stretch over time; and the lotions and potions we put on our body can stain the fabrics.

However we understand that sometimes it’s not possible to hand wash your lingerie at certain times, so we recommend machining on a cold wash and never ever tumble dry your Vanjo!

We are however unable to refund any lingerie that has been machine washed (and yes you can tell), our lingerie is designed and sewn to last, however as you’ve probably discovered with your other lingerie, continuous machine washing damages your lingerie, from twisted straps, wavy elastics and discolourations between the bra and straps (they are different based fabrics so wash entirely different). So where possible hand wash your Vanjo, it lasts a lot longer that way!