Why I became a lingerie designer
I often get the question, why did I become a lingerie designer?
When I was at school, I loved to create things, whether that was drawing or making things. I had a sewing machine and would mainly use it to alter clothes that I had bought. I had tried my hand at making clothes but the fabric seemed too big to lay on the floor and cut. I also didn’t think I was fashionable enough to design clothes, and had in my head I had to look a certain way to get far in the industry.
Then I heard about Demontfort University doing a contour degree and having gone to look round, I knew I wanted to design underwear. I loved how tiny the pieces were and how you in such a small garment you could alter the look. That said, even when I was there I did question if I wanted to do it as a career, and looked into doing other courses.
Then one day in class a fitting expert came in and she fitted me from my 36C (which other shop fitted always out me in) to a 32DD/30E and my whole body shape looked different. It was then I wanted to be able to design fit and share that same feeling that, that expert had given me. The power of correct fitting lingerie never left me. How a small garment that isn’t seen can alter the way you feel, alter the way your clothes fit and just make you feel better about yourself.
Working for high streets learnt me a lot about speed, accuracy and costing a garment, and I loved how many pieces of swimwear and lingerie designed, I loved taking my initial design and having the challenge to reproduce it but under the original cost not losing any of the aesthetics. Seeing the pieces you designed in magazines and producing sell out pieces also was a highlight in my career. But it was when I ran Vanjo that I had the ability to produce, great fitting lingerie in bigger cup sizes in fabrics not usually used for that market. When people took their time to write or email me about how my designs made them feel it confirmed I was on the right path of designing.
I also love the fact that when you receive/make a sample that before hand it didn’t exist and that piece of lingerie design that came from your mind can give a woman confidence, and in turn alter her life about the way she feels about herself.
That’s why I’ve always stuck with designing lingerie and now have the ability, to share all my knowledge I have gained over the past twenty years. In turn if I can help someone who has a great lingerie idea and get them to the stage of producing their own lingerie brand then that in turn will alter someone else’s life, and that in itself is pretty special.
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