How to create luxury lingerie
Have you ever wondered why some lingerie is more expensive than others? Or how some lingerie sets can be so cheap. Three quick things to look for when putting together a tech-pack or discussing with your factory twhat you need.
As well as the quality of the fabric and by that I mean usually the weight of it. You can tell this if you have bought say cotton underwear from a cheaper high street store and then bought cotton underwear that is from a premium store, the high street store one will feel lighter, when stretched you will be able to see light, compared to one which feel heavier, and this is literally because per meter it weighs heavier so there is more cotton thread per meter.
This is shown as g/m2.
Anything less that 180g/m2 when buying cotton jersey I would avoid for lingerie, yes it might feel soft and light but after a few washes your lingerie is going to look misshapen and tired. I usually aim for around 210g/m2.
Luxury lingerie is all in the small details as well, look at your hardware you are using, gold or silver rings and sliders, elevate a piece more so than plastic coloured coated rings or sliders.
Finally, it’s all about the sewing, you can use the most expensive fabrics but it if the stitch quality is bad you bra is going to look cheap and poorly made. Not only do you need neat stitching you will need to tell the factory how many stitches per cm you need for each stitch. When a factory wishes to do the garment cheaper they will later the stitch or how many there is in a cm.
Why?
Well, a zigzag stitch takes longer to sew than twin needle, which means by using a twin needle stitch they will be able to get more garments through using that sewing procedure. For the stitch length, the longer the stitch the lkess thread a factory uses (which means the garment is cheaper) however this means there is more chance of threads breaking.
For a Zig-Zag stitch you would looking at wanting 3-4 stitches per cm. Each different stitch (straight, zig-zag, 3-step and topstitch) will have different amounts per cm.
If you wish to learn more about what to put into a tech pack for your lingerie design then I now run a Lingerie subscription service called BRA-nd Studio for aspiring and independent lingerie designers and early-stage brands, who want expert guidance, structure, and support—without feeling overwhelmed. Each month I pick a theme and we delve into it, wiht lives, and freebies and extra help along the way so you cna ask questions and get that one-to-one feel without the commitment or monetary outlay to begin your brand.