California Apparel News

Despite a challenging year that left many neighborhood shopping thoroughfares abundant with empty windows and “for lease” signs, lingerie boutiques are not only hanging on but growing in numbers. Several brave entrepreneurs—many with limited retail experience—opened doors for business this year in Los Angeles, including Sugar Lilie Dessous Prives, Jenette Bras, and Undrest lingerie and loungewear. There were also established lingerie brands that rolled out new stores. Italian luxury line La Perla debuted its second Los Angeles outpost in the Malibu Lumber Yard. And Intimacy, a multi-door retailer based in Atlanta, opened its first California location at the Fashion Valley shopping center in San Diego this year and has plans to open locations in the Westfield Century City and South Coast Plaza malls as early as May 2010.

Because it’s considered a necessity, lingerie tends to be less affected by an economic lull than other categories, said Ellen Lewis, a lingerie retail and manufacturing consultant. Lewis has her own company, Intimate Product Concepts, and works with trend-forecasting agency Concepts Paris.

“[Lingerie] should be a recession-proof product in a sense if the store is driven by helping people,” she said. “There is so little [service] out there with this intimate type of product in the bigger venues because of the cutbacks from the recession. I think it’s an opportunity for a customer service–driven business.”

At your service

When Intimacy opened its first lingerie store in Atlanta in 1992, shoppers were hesitant to let a fitter accompany them in the dressing room. But that changed after founder Susan Nethero appeared on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in May 2005 and showed the masses that the perfect bra could be found with the help of a professional bra fitter’s keen eye. These days, women have embraced the personalized attention.

“Today, women expect that [personal fitting] when they come to Intimacy,” said David Nethero, husband and business partner of Susan. “We take reservations online, so it’s like a spa experience.”

Since 2004, Intimacy has been on a growth spurt and now operates stores in New York, Chicago, Boston, Houston, Miami and Dallas. In Southern California, the company has a store in San Diego and plans to open stores in Los Angeles’ Century City neighborhood and at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. Intimacy carries a range of top brands such as Prima Donna, Marie Jo, Lise Charmel, Chantelle and Aubade.

The couple credits their success in part to their business perspective as “a retailer of a service as opposed to a retailer of a product. As a result of the service—the bra fitting, which is free—people buy product,” David Nethero said.

Jenette Goldstein—who opened her self-named boutique in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles in May of this year—hinges her business on this same brand of personalized customer service. Her destination shop, which specializes in busty cup sizes D to K and band sizes from 30 to 44, draws customers from Pacific Palisades to Riverside.

“In a recession, you want to buy something that’s of quality and that’s a necessity,” said Goldstein, who opened the store because she had difficulty finding bras that fit her G-size bosom. “Once you come in and you feel how it fits and it will last twice as long as a lower-priced brand, it will make you feel better. That is economic. I don’t have to do any convincing. Once you put it on, you see that it’s worth it.”

Brands such as Freya, Panache, Anita and Le Mystegrave;re average at $68, and brands such as Prima Donna and Empriente average $120.

Get comfortable

In the case of Sugar Lilie Dessous Prives, located in West Hollywood, Calif., owner Stacy Shakoor’s young designer brand selection boasts a dual purpose of beauty and functionality catering to the delicate female taste.

“Our emphasis is on fit, quality, great fabrics, value. If you spend money on something, you want something that’s going to last you,” said Shakoor, who stocks Hot Milk fashion maternity lingerie, Araks, Marlies Dekkers and Timpa. In comparison to some shops that play to the male desires of bedtime wear, Sugar Lilie’s pretty unmentionables are chosen for a combination of exquisite design that also passes the comfort test. “How do you feel when you put it on? It’s all about you,” Shakoor said. “In our neighborhood, women tend to be more practical and not so much on the ’va va voom’ side.”

The sagging economy and abundance of “for lease” signs proved favorable for local designer Maria Paz Navales, who was able to negotiate an affordable temporary lease for a pop-up shop on the high-profile shopping block of Robertson Boulevard. The boutique showcases her Undrest Supima cotton knit and cashmere crochet loungewear; her higher-end line, Undrest Haute Couture; and her swim line, Undrest by the Sea.

Following brisk holiday sales of her cotton and cashmere lines and the presentation of “a deal by the owner of the building I couldn’t refuse,” Navales decided to make the pop-up shop permanent.

“Seeing the retail aspect has made me a better designer. I am able to kind of get a sense of what the retail buying pattern is. I’m able to listen to what the general public wants, and I design with their needs [in mind],” said Navales, who is in the store at least three times a week. She plans to use the store as a testing ground for a ready-to-wear line of Supima cotton/Modal/spandex leggings and Liberty of London print dresses in spring 2010.

Still, veteran lingerie retailers warn these newcomers that the lingerie sector is not an easy niche to break into.

“Lingerie is very hard,” said Jason Amirmajdi, who owns high-end lingerie store Le Bra in West Hollywood. “You have to have a great deal of inventory. Everyone who walks in has a different size, has a different need, has a different taste.” Le Bra stayed afloat through the tough times by offering studio services and incorporating authentic vintage lingerie with collectible quality, Amirmajdi said.

Le Bra carries the cregrave;me de la cregrave;me of European brands such as La Perla Black Label, Eres, Chantal Thomass and Made by Niki that average in the $200–$500 price range. He added that customer service is essential to success. “Ninety percent of my clients come here because of me.”

Even so, Amirmajdi welcomes the addition of more lingerie stores to Los Angeles, noting that each specialty store commands its own niche of taste and price. Plus, he said, the influx of small specialty stores will provide more opportunities for new, independent designers. “It gives the public a choice,” he said. “You go to Paris, every block has a lingerie store.”