STANCE Explains Move Into T-shirts & Womens Underwear

SOURCE talks with Stance’s Abigail Lorick, Design Director at Stance HQ and Laura Fairweather, Lifestyle Marketing Director at Stance EMEA about Stance’s expansion into the womens underwear market and the introduction of t-shirts, providing the brand well known for their artistic collaborations, a larger canvas to play with. They give us an insight into what encouraged them to break into both markets, what they have in store for artist collaborations and what styles have been working for them.

Stance Intimates

Could you talk us through the styles offered and how much influence and expertise you’re taking from your mens underwear programme?
Currently, we have 3 bras and 3 panties. None of our bras have underwires, they are all bralettes, and while all of our silhouettes are versatile and practical, the bra that our customer has fallen in love with is our twist front bra. As for panties, our wide side thong has been a huge hit, it’s the one that women are talking about and coming back to buy most frequently. In terms of what we have learned from our men’s programme, it validated that our art point of view was something the consumer really wanted. By bringing self-expression to a layer that was traditionally seen as functional, we knew that bringing art to women’s intimates was indeed the right path to pursue and something that had been missing. As a brand that eschews the conventional or safe route, we speak in mostly prints instead of solids, and women have responded so positively to our prints and art as the first layer that touches your skin. In terms of the assortment, the plan is to keep it refined and focused on the silhouettes that our customers seek out the most and to create new ones as we identify a market need, and to of course continue to bring a beautiful and interesting aesthetic to each seasonal collection.

What’s happening with design and artist collaboration?
We do collaborations when there is an alignment between the brand, the artist, and intimates as the right canvas for them. We have done very few intimates collaborations to this point – Basquiat was the latest – but there are some on the horizon that are really exciting and bring another interesting chapter to an already beautiful story. We are also always looking for the next chapter and exploring the many ways we could write it.

What special materials and cuts are you working with?
We have 3 fabrications in intimates: Sensil nylon, sheer, and cotton. Each one serves a specific purpose. The nylon is for every day, the sheer provides a sexier aesthetic, and the cotton is for women who feel most at home in cotton. All of our fabrications are extremely breathable and comfortable. We’ve had so many women tell us that they forget to take their bra off when they go to bed and don’t even notice they have it on until they go to change the next morning. We love that.

Do you have any new ambassadors joining the team to launch this segment?
Yes, we definitely have some exciting new ambassadors coming down the pipeline; I can’t share more information at the moment but we will make sure to keep you posted!