by Ali Cudby
I was fortunate enough to see the Van de Velde facilities in Belgium recently and the experience has heightened my appreciation for the value of quality lingerie.
Of all the things I saw on the tour that amazed me – and there were a lot of them – what remains in my mind as particularly innovative is their blending of old and new technologies to ensure the highest quality product across all of their brands.
For example, machines are used to unspool and respool every single bolt of fabric that comes into the factory, to ensure that all fabric being used has the same tension. As the fabric is goes through this process, it is examined for imperfections – this is done the old fashioned way, by a person with good eyes and a roll of tape. In order to ensure excellence, these spotters are only allowed to perform this task for 3 hours per day, maximum.
Sophisticated machines are used to test and measure the tensile strength of each piece of fabric the company is planning to use, to ensure it has the ability to hold up under the strain of use, especially for fuller busted women. At the same time, wear testing is done with a series of consumer-grade washers. (I did note that they don’t even attempt to test their fabrics in the dryer. If you’re a consumer putting your lingerie through the dryer, you’re venturing into uncharted waters, and it’s about as highly recommended as swimming with hungry sharks wearing a chum-drenched swimsuit.)
Finally, to achieve maximum uniformity with minimum waste, computers are used to generate exact cuts on each piece of fabric. Cuts are designed into the bolt of fabric, with a razor-thin margin between cuts. Lace, on the other hand, is hand cut with a press die designed for each specific garment.
This process is used for every single garment the company produces, and each year, Van de Velde produces 300 new models of lingerie – 50 different sizes and 60 unique colors. That adds up to 8,500 unique items annually. For each of these items, there are numerous elements – sometimes upwards of 50 individual components per item.
Understanding the level of sophistication that goes into the manufacture of the Van de Velde products helps to explain its value, which can be useful for both retailers and customers. When every garment is given such dedication to excellence and quality checked to this degree, it’s helpful to share some of this information with customers, so they can better appreciate what goes into luxury lingerie and, by extension its prices.
