Wednesday, May 17, 2000
Bras battle for attention
'Erin Brockovich' brings the quest for cleavage way out into the open
By Barbara Nachman
Gannett News Service
Julia Roberts as Erin Brockovich.
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Not since the Miracle Bra and the Wonderbra went to war in 1994, has there been such intense competition for the hearts, souls and cleavage of American women.
Julia Roberts' supernatural cleavage in Erin Brockovich intensified the new “Battle of the Bras,” striking a chord with post-feminist women who want to wear what they want to wear, where they want to wear it and when they want to wear it.
Think empowerment. Think self-confidence. Think if you've got it, flaunt it. And if you don't got it, get it.
Costume designers engineered special bras for Ms. Roberts in the movie. Ordinary women have to settle for the cleavage creaters they find at their local department stores.
And there's a lot out there.
The new “Battle of the Bras” began in February, when Lily of France marched its new X-Bra into stores with the promise of boosting bodies with padded, seamless bra cups and a revolutionary center clasp engineered to deliver a range of breast squoosh from minimal to maximum.
“The clasp in the center allows you to adjust the cleavage,” explains Chris Fuentes, vice president of marketing for Bestform Intimates, Lily of France's parent company. “Put it on during the day when you don't want to be so cleavagy, then pull the clasp and notice the difference.”
Not to be outdone, Victoria's Secret returned fire with the Natural Liquid Miracle Bra, featuring liquid-filled inner pockets that promise ultimate cleavage and the addition of a “full cup size.” For maximum impact the company enlisted curvaceous lingerie model Heidi Klum to personally deliver the April shipment to its Manhattan store.
This month, Ultimo “The Ultimate Bra” advanced into Saks Fifth Avenue stores with a patented top-secret gel sewn into each and every cup. Ultimo claims to out-natural The Natural, promising the most natural look and feel of any of any push-up in lingerie land.
So natural, in fact, that its British designer Michelle Mone calls it an “outplant,” the next best thing to an implant.
“It gives you that Erin Brockovich look,” says Barbara Lipton at Saks about the bra, which was actually being researched and developed long before the Julia Roberts celebration of extreme cleavage hit the big screen.
And that's not all. In July, cleavage cognoscenti will be introduced to Nothing But Curves, Warnaco's latest body booster that boasts natural cleavage without pads or gimmicks.
These super-charged soldiers are advancing into a war zone already packed with heavy artillery. According to lingerie lore, when it was introduced six years ago, the Wonderbra sold at a rate of one every 15 seconds and quickly became the nation's top-selling push-up bra. Meanwhile, its arch enemy, the Miracle Bra, has sold 30 million undergarments. According to Victoria's Secret, if all the Miracle Bras sold were laid end to end they would stretch round trip from Columbus, Ohio to London, England — more than 10,000 miles. That figure is based on the 34-B band size.
And then there's Frederick's of Hollywood, a company that's made lift and thrust its bread and butter, with models such as the Captivator, a three-way convertible bra that boasts “incredible lift and cleavage”; the H2O Waterbra, which “molds to your body's natural shape and temperature”; and The Hollywood Kiss Bra, “a marvel of underwire construction that creates incredible kissing cleavage ... from here to eternity.”
Still, both Ms. Fuentes and Ms. Lipton are confident of victory. They say the $4.6 billion bra market is roomy enough for all the warring factions, especially since women have become captivated with cleavage.
“We've definitely gotten past that time when women wanted to look like men,” says Ms. Lipton, who is the vice president and division merchandising manager for lingerie at Saks. “Women are a lot more confident about their shapes and their bodies. Cleavage makes a woman feel sexy. It makes a woman feel pretty. It makes her feel fabulous under a suit. And then there are customers who like to show their cleavage, and that's beautiful.”
“This company has spent millions of dollars talking to women about why it's so important,” says Ms. Fuentes at Bestform. “They say, "I feel more attractive. I like it when men notice me.'”
The X-Bra is targeting young intimate apparel enthusiasts. (You know, the ones wearing tiny tank tops with bras sticking out.) These teens and twenty-somethings scooped up the first batch of 300,000 bras so fast that the company decided to roll out 1 million of them this year.
“Our biggest problem is keeping up with demand,” Ms. Fuentes says.
The Victoria's Secret Natural Liquid Miracle Bra is a similar success story. Its first April shipment evaporated in every size and color in most major cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston and Seattle.
Saks already has a waiting list with more than 2,000 names for the Ultimo, and “E-mails are coming in every day,” gushes Lipton. When the bra was launched in London last August, the initial shipment of 2,000, which was expected to last six weeks, disappeared in one day.
It remains to be seen if Nothing But Curves will generate such interest. But Warnaco, leaving nothing to chance, is rolling out a $3- to $4-million advertising campaign with thlllll tag line, “Why torment yourself in their push-up bra when you could be torturing guys in ours?”
If only Sigmund Freud had lived long enough to learn the answer to his perennial question.
What do women want?
Why, cleavage, of course.
Ultimo — the ultimate bra
• Price: $58
• Promise: cleavage plus comfort
• Secret weapon: top-secret gel substance
• Where to buy: Saks Fifth Avenue Stores
Lily of France X-bra
• Price: $25
• Promise: “adjust to stun”
• Secret weapon: center clasp that controls cleavage
• Where to buy: major department stores
The Natural — the new miracle liquid bra
• Price: $48
• Promises: cleavage plus one full cup size
• Secret weapon: liquid-filled inner pockets
• Where to buy: Victoria's Secret
Nothing but curves
• Price: $29
• Promises: natural cleavage without pads or gimmicks
• Secret weapon: engineering
• Where and when to buy: Beginning in July, major department stores
The Miracle Click Bra
• Price: $42
• Promise: adjusts to three levels of cleavage
• Secret weapon: tiny bow-covered button between cups
• Where to buy: Victoria's Secret stores and catalogs
The H20 water bra
• Price: $36
• Promise: “water makes everything grow!”
• Secret weapon: oil-and-water-filled cups
• Where to buy: Frederick's of Hollywood stores and catalog
The Hollywood Kiss Bra
• Price: $28
• Promise: kissable cleavage
• Secret weapon: wish-bone straps and all-around wiring
• Where to buy: Frederick's of Hollywood stores and catalog
The Captivator
• Price: $26
• Promise: dramatic push-up shaping
• Secret weapon: remolded, deep-plunge foam cups
• Where to buy: Frederick's of Hollywood stores and catalogs
The Wonderbra
• Price: $26
• Promise: maximum lift and volume
• Secret weapon: removable “cookies”
• Where to buy: major department stores
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