Hanky Panky Adds Bras
Hanky Panky is synonymous with its signature stretch-lace thong, designed with equal parts playful attitude, sexiness and comfort. After 30 years in the intimate-apparel business, the company is introducing matching bras for Fall 2007.
“My goal is to achieve in bras a comfort factor that we’re known for in the panties,” said Gale Epstein, co-founder, president and creative director of the New York–based company.
The first collection integrates the same stretch lace that put Hanky Panky thongs on the fashion map with specialized comfort features that mold to the wearer’s body. Extra hook closures around the back allow for broader fit options within the size range. The shoulder straps are convertible to solve the problem of straps falling off the shoulders. The straps can be moved from a standard placement to a position closer together for women with narrow shoulders or a shorter torso. The straps can also be converted to cross in the back.
“It’s soft and it’s malleable. It conforms to a women’s shape, unlike the many molded bras out there [that are] sort of armor-like. They have a shape and mind of their own. Ours are more conforming,” said Epstein.
The new bra collection includes styles such as demi-cup with under wire, triangle, balconette and corselette, which will coordinate with bottoms in a palette of Wedgwood blue, pink, leopard print and rich neutrals.
Retail price points range from $45 for bras to $65 for corselettes. Hanky Panky’s signature thong wholesales for $8.
Throughout the 30-year existence of the company, Hanky Panky has been successful through slow growth and innovative design. In 1977, Epstein and her friend Lida Orzeck started Hanky Panky with handkerchiefs reworked into lingerie. The next milestone occurred in the late 1970s and 1980s, when Hanky Panky introduced an undershirt with shoulder pads. Epstein first introduced the signature lace thong in 1986 as a basic, and over the years it built a loyal following.
A big turning point for the company occurred in 2004, when the Wall Street Journal published an article chronicling Hanky Panky’s celebrity clients and the cult-like consumer following of Hanky Panky’s signature lace thong. The article—along with the timing of the fashion market that was seeking a solution to eliminate visible panty lines—catapulted Hanky Panky into the mainstream.
“I think the importance of the Wall Street Journal article is it made the thong category legitimate,” said Epstein, who elaborated that in the 1980s, the thong was a risqueacute; undergarment. “Men were buying it for their wives and girlfriends. They were calling stores, referring to the newspaper. It was okay to even say the word because the Wall Street Journal had.”
Liliya Chobanian, general manager and a buyer for the lingerie boutique East Thirteen in Pasadena, Calif., carries Hanky Panky’s nightgowns and sleepwear. Chobanian, who owns a few pairs of the signature thong, credits the popularity of the line to strong word-of-mouth.
“The [Hanky Panky] thong is the only form of underwear that people come in and [specifically] ask for,” she said.
For more information, call (212) 725-4996. —Rhea Cortado
