California Apparel News

The French lingerie company Barbara is ready to make a major presence in the U.S. market. In order to build a closer face-to-face relationship with its American customers, Barbara recently shifted from a U.S. distributor to a U.S. subsidiary with offices based in New York.

“Barbara thought they had a lot of potential in the market for a while, but they felt like they needed an adaptation in the product and primary investigation before coming here [to the United States],” said Barbara’s Managing Director Laurence Jaillet.

Barbara was founded in 1926 by Marcel Bena as a manufacturer of elastic fabric and specialized in corsets. Now, the Barbara group has evolved to include the brands Barbara, swimwear line Barbara Bain and luxury brand Ravage, which it acquired in 1999. Barbara is sold in over 70 countries and, according to Jaillet, is one of the top lingerie brands in Russia and a top-selling imported brand in Korea, Taiwan and Shanghai, China.

The new Spring 2007 Ange collection designed for the U.S. market features a seamless three-dimensional foam-cup bra, which has been selling well in countries across the board, according to Jaillet.

“The knowledge that you’re getting out of [the U.S.] market is a useful tool on the worldwide scale,” she added.

The three-dimensional foam-cup bra is composed of airy breathable foam that molds to the shape of the breast to help fit women who are in between sizes, and it provides a forgiving fit. Touches of glamour are added with gold thread and gold hardware adorning the bra straps.

Jaillet stressed that switching to a U.S.–based subsidiary improves the delivery times, price points and customer service to be more competitive with domestic lingerie companies.

“The [European lingerie companies] that have been able to understand the U.S. market—and particularly the need to prompt delivery and matching the same customer service as the American peers—have been able to succeed,” said Jaillet.

For more information, call (347) 351-5150. —Rhea Cortado