Who says lingerie can't be frilly and functional at the same time? Deirdre McQuillanmeets three women who are building a firm foundation in pretty underwear that also does the job.
LISA O'RIORDANIt's a long way from Cork to Rio, but Brazilian culture left an enormous impact on Lisa O'Riordan, Ireland's newest lingerie designer. The vibrant colours, fancy detailing and sheer brio of her lingerie lends underwear a carnival mood - a look that's more fun than femme fatale.
The former Microsoft worker and MCD event manager returned to Ireland from her travels in Australia and South America, deciding that fashion rather than concerts was her preferred milieu.
"I wanted to be able to wear cami tops and take them off on the beach and have something colourful with nice straps underneath," she says. Loathing the look of G-strings peeping out from low-cut jeans, she also set her sights on providing more attractive alternatives. So, inspired by the culture, music and colour of Rio, she took a night course at the Grafton Academy to learn her craft and worked for a time as a stylist's assistant.
Her first collection, launched in Cow's Lane about two years ago, stood out with its hot pinks and oranges, cheeky stripes and cute detailing. Its success encouraged her to take the collection into more structured styles and she set off to source lingerie manufacturers in Poland.
LiveByLove underwear "offers style-conscious women a way to enhance their individual style and look", she says.
The bras are designed for casual daywear or funky evening attire. Some of the range, made in swimwear fabric, can even be worn as beachwear, and such is its appeal for twentysomethings and thirtysomethings that stockists now include Brown Thomas in Dublin and Avoca outlets outside Dublin.
ANGELA FERRARAAngela Ferrara is the founder of Bellalusso, a company specialising in bras for larger cup sizes, but more importantly in measuring women correctly for a perfect fit. The first shop in Ireland opened in Castlebar, Co Mayo, last December, "to enable well-endowed women to look beautiful and sexy in their undergarments".
Ferrara, who is from an Irish-Italian family in New York but is now based in Balla, Co Mayo, discovered when she was pregnant that her bra size went from a 38DD to GG cup within a month. Despite scouring "every lingerie shop between Mayo and Dublin", she couldn't find anything comfortable to wear.
"My breasts weigh 14lbs and every shop I went to measured me differently," she says. In the process, she discovered that sizing methods and charts had not kept up with advances in fabric technology, and were outdated and inaccurate, she claims.
Now she imports bras and matching briefs in sizes from 28Ds up to 44JJs, from nine different manufacturers in the UK, France, Italy, Spain and Canada.
Her most popular sizes are 32FF, 34F and 34FF; even 14-year-old girls can have F cups. Having measured about 8,000 women since establishing her business, she found only six wearing the correct size and she places a lot of emphasis on the importance of private fittings.
In the Castlebar shop, each customer is measured and fitted individually, "and they can literally try on every style".
Such has been the success of Bellalusso - which is Italian for "beautiful luxury" - that next June she will launch her own range of bras and matching briefs, along with four styles of dresses and shirts, designed specifically for women with bigger busts and smaller waists.
Her special measuring tape helps customers to work out their correct size, and she stresses how posture can be improved with a properly fitting bra. Ferrara's plans include further expansion in Ireland and the US, spreading her gospel of what she calls "curve confidence".
CAOIMHE O'DWYER A long-standing interest in antique lingerie led Malahide-born Caoimhe O'Dwyer to specialise in underwear after she had completed a language and business studies course at DIT and a fashion degree at the National College of Art and Design in 2003. Her fine silks and satins with delicate trims are soft, romantic and luxurious, and are often bought as gift items.
Work experience took her to New York and Rome. In 2004, she won the La Perla award for best international ladies lingerie collection at Mittelmoda and, the following year, she was based full time with the Italian lingerie manufacturer in Bologna.
She established her own studio in Malahide last year, specialising in fine silks, tulle and lace, and has now branched into ladieswear. Her current collection, in shades of grey, black and violet, is called Black Iris.
Last season, her work was part of Sharon Wauchob's catwalk show at Paris Fashion Week and that collaboration is ongoing.
"It's good to have your own niche area," she says. "My dresses and separates are in the same fabrics and styles as my underwear; they are soft and romantic."
O'Dwyer's collection can be found in various Dublin outlets, including No 6, Castle Market; Susan Hunter, the Westbury Mall; and Mandeville in Malahide, which stocks her full ladieswear collection. See www.caoimheodwyer.com