Shapewear in the deep end
Shapewear in the deep end - Photo slideshow See the slideshow 10 photos
A jersey that draws a dream body... This is the tempting promise that several brands want to keep this summer.
The ordeal of buying a swimsuit is often thankless. Most women have been able to experience it in front of a mirror, in the fitting room, dreaming of slipping into a few centimeters of fabric that would turn them into mermaids. Until now, it was in the sports department that you could find these "shape reshaping" swimsuits. Or at high maintenance specialists, where women may have curves to smooth. The proposals were technical, effective, but not always very glamorous. Everything changes. Thanks to the new softer and more comfortable sculpting materials in lingerie, women have (re)discovered the benefits of these “beauty pluses” that mask bulges, refine the line, blur the curves. “French women are discovering that shapewear is much more stunning and immediate than a diet. It's a bit like a beauty accessory that helps you feel better about your body. And for the swimsuit, it's even more important, because we are subject to everyone's gaze", assures François Cornet, distributor in the middle of the launch phase on the French market of the American brand Miraclesuit, whose catchphrase is on couldn't be any clearer: “Look 5 kg lighter in 10 seconds. Time to put on her bathing suit. This expectation of shapewear ("modeling garment" in VF), Invista, the manufacturer of the most famous elastane fiber measured it when launching Lycra Beauty, a program dedicated to sculpting.
Its consumer studies have shown that while 93% of women were looking for a benefit promised by shapewear, 50% of them regretted the absence of fashion proposals in this segment. "Lycra Beauty has made it possible to reveal a second generation of products . The success with women in lingerie has encouraged us to turn to swimsuits, where the demand for support is even greater,” explains Kim Chi Phung, France-Belgium marketing manager for Lycra fiber.
Getting out of the black one-piece
It took two years of work and partnership with manufacturers of swimwear fabrics to develop materials that are both responsive and comfortable. “Until now, sheathing swimsuits have often consisted of plain black one-pieces made in compact knits. They first had a technical function before being elegant,” emphasizes Kim Chi Phung. The first versions of the summer therefore take the opposite view of these gloomy basics, whether at Empreinte with a triangle two-piece in microfiber with a very Romy Schneider look in La Piscine, or at Triumph, which played the card of seduction with push-up necklines.
The demonstration is even more flagrant with the Italians La Perla and Ritratti, who have also joined Lycra Beauty to improve their shapewear offer. “Our line appeals primarily for its look. The fact that it is modeling brings a plus, an aesthetic promise like a beauty cream would,” assures Bruno de Beaudean, export manager for Ritratti.
With or without Lycra Beauty certification, other brands such as Miraclesuit, Wolford or Bestform Aquasculpting also show the ambition to make shapewear more fashionable with cuts and colors in keeping with the season. Admittedly, for 90% of the models, it is a one-piece (quite logical when you want to shape your waist, hips and stomach), but the wave of retro panties, à la Marylin Monroe, also makes it possible to work with two-pieces with flat stomach effects. Still, some brands, without calling themselves “shapewear”, have long taken this expectation into account. Like Eres and its exclusive material called Peau Douce thanks to which, assure the insiders, putting on an Eres swimsuit means gaining a size... less.
