Apparel Intimate
Intimate apparel has a long and storied history from reams of petticoats to corsets so tight that many women fainted during the hours of formal dining and dancing. But the modern history of the American intimate apparel industry has focuses on style, fit and comfort. One company, Sara Lee Intimate Apparel can trace its roots back to 1927 when a young woman, Sara Stein, who worked for a bra manufacturing company decided to build a better product for women that was designed for quality, fit, performance and comfort. Sara Stein and her husband set up a company and started selling their new bras to stores in the Brooklyn area. By 1940 their company, Bali Brassiere, was known as a leader of the foundations industry and went on to become a key part of the Hanes Corporation and ultimately the Sara Lee Corporation. But it all began on a simple sewing machine in the kitchen of a woman who wanted a stylish but more comfortable bra. Today the intimate apparel industry is very big business. Sara Lee’s Hanes and Hanes Her Way lines sell over $ 2.5 billion a year alone in intimate apparel and the total sales for that company alone is over $ 7 billion a year. One of the most successful intimate apparel retailers is Victoria’s Secret. Once a kind of risqué ladies undergarment catalogue, Victoria’s Secret is now very mainstream