Underwear Manufacturers

Once labelled our unmentionables, underwear is now a multi-billion-dollar market that will hit a value of nearly 60 billion by 2024.

It’s a wardrobe essential and yet a fashion item that has changed and evolved greatly through the decades. Once created for preserving modesty, creating comfort, and for hygiene and practicality, lingerie is now just as important in the world of fashion as any other single item.

Up until the late 19th century, women’s underwear was often painfully structured to create the desired look. Corsets were notoriously tight around the ribcage causing fainting and hoop skirts and crinolines made any sort of movement difficult. These were often paired with frilly bloomers, a longer short that sat underneath the skirt’s layers.

Into the 20th century, underwear evolved rapidly for women as corsets were transformed into bras and heavy structure and boning was replaced by lighter silk fabrics and more comfortable constructions. This came with the booming undergarment manufacturing industry as more and more underwear was able to be produced and women started to be able to see more options available to them.

During the 1940’s Christian Dior’s New Look brought back a flash of the old-age corset, this time in the form of the girdle. This aimed to create the perfect hourglass silhouette made famous by the likes of Marilyn Monroe, boosting the bust, cinching the waist and adding volume to the hips.

This lingerie trend was met in the ‘50s by the pointed bra, first worn by Hollywood star, Jayne Mansfield, while thongs and g-string undergarments made their way onto the scene around the 1980’s.

Since the feminine and relaxed underwear of the ‘60s, the intimates market has seen a cycle of trends that often return to corsets and bodices and back to silk and satin options, all of which would be popular choices in today’s marketplace.

Eternally a source of fashion debate and interest, as well as a booming industry, women’s underwear continues to shape the market. While corsets are no longer the norm for everyday use underneath clothing, shapewear is a rapidly growing market and consists of items designed and made to change and shape a woman's silhouette underneath her clothing. From stomach-pinching knickers to waist-moulding stockings, the women’s underwear market is seeing continued growth, expected to continue through to 2024 and beyond.