BRANDS WE LOVE: LARA INTIMATES
If there’s one thing I have learnt, if you can’t find what you want do it yourself?…. that’s how?HEY GIRL came into being.
Here’s the amazing underwear?brand “LARA INTIMATES” … it was set up by Faith Leeves and Cindy Liberman in September 2017 just 3 months after graduating from London College of Fashion.?Lara Intimates is a sustainable women’s underwear brand making every garment from deadstock fabrics in Lara’s all female, Central London factory. In addition to a local and eco-friendly supply chain, Lara offers one of the most inclusive bra size ranges in the world: 28A-36E including 28-34F.
We had a little chat to find out more…
Why did you start the brand? what made you want to do it?
Faith (Leeves) and I (Cindy Liberman) studied lingerie and swimwear design at London College of Fashion. While studying, we looked for jobs in the industry and realised there was no one we wanted to work for. No brand cared about sustainability throughout their supply chain and had a product we loved. We also noticed that women were very dissatisfied with lingerie available from high street and luxury retailers. We thought we could create something better with a great set of values and product that women loved.
Whats been the hardest thing doing ?Lara Intimates”?
The hardest thing at the moment is juggling the million different things that need to be done in a day! But that’s the fun part about owning your own business 🙂
Where does the name come for?
We wanted a girl’s name but didn’t want to use our own name. So we chose Lara.
How does it make you feel when you?know people love your product?
When someone loves our product, it’s the best feeling in the world. Recently, a girl came in and said she was considering a boob reduction. When she tried on our bras, I swear I saw her tear up, and no she’s no longer considering surgery. I think that’s the best reaction we’ve had so far.
How do you feel about retouching in the media?
I don’t agree with dramatic retouching in the media. I think small changes to lighting or something distracting in the photo is ok, but we would never retouch a woman’s body. I also hate when brands smooth out wrinkled clothes in pictures. We believe in products that fit perfectly, so it drives me crazy when ill-fitted clothing is edited to look like a great fit.
As being a guy I would love to know how can men support women more in fashion?
We need more women in high positions in fashion businesses. I recently heard that only 2% of investment goes to women-run businesses, and unfortunately investment and finance is a bit of a boys club. I think men could do more to champion women-owned companies succeed by investing in fashion. There’s obviously so many answers to this question, but that’s one specific I think about a lot.
How can we empower women more?/ What would you say your brands ethos is?
Our mission is to celebrate women. We make products that fit and flatter, provide opportunities to female makers and empower all women that believe in a sustainable fashion future. I love seeing women feel confident and empowered when they buy Lara bras. It’s incredible what a difference that makes in their lives. We also really want to provide opportunities to women with our business. Lingerie manufacturing used to be one of Britain’s largest providers of job for women, and now nearly all those jobs are gone. We want to bring those opportunities back and celebrate design and production.
Check out the whole range?https://laraintimates.com
Big love x
