Still Going Strong ~ Hanky Panky’s Iconic Thong Turns 35

By ELLEN LEWIS

Almost anyone I ask seems to have a story about the legendary Hanky Panky® thong. Just yesterday, my business partner Shirley and I were reminiscing about this iconic lace panty celebrating its 35^th anniversary this year.

I remember some time back when my daughter was just 16, my husband, while sorting the laundry, lifted a purple lace thong from the basket.  Befuddled, he asked me what it was.  Never mind I said, I will take care of it and proceeded to tell Maria that she would have to do her own laundry henceforth. Now, at 36, she is still a Hanky Panky® fan and by the way, purple is still her favorite color.

Shirley’s tale is a bit different. Eighteen years ago, while managing a few radio stations in New England, some of her younger female employees discovered that she had never tried a thong because, she told them, it looked uncomfortable. Shocked at this revelation, the girls presented her with a gift of several Hanky Panky® thongs to change her mind.  It worked.

My personal memory runs more to my merchandising mentality. Once, while in Nordstrom’s lingerie department, a customer mistook me for a salesperson. Having just picked up at least eight thongs from the Hanky Panky® fixture, she asked me if there were any more in the stockroom. She would, she said, take one in every color. It’s a story I have heard before and since. These panties are like body candy. Why not indulge oneself.

Born in 1986, the thong, hi-rise and low-rise, is a metaphor for the brands entire mission: “Comfort is Our North Star. Color is Our Muse”.  An archive of 500 colors and 270 prints, this one size panty has been dubbed “lace butter” for its unimaginably soft hand.

In the past 35 years, Hanky Panky® has sold 45.6 million pairs in more than 70 countries. In fact, a Hanky Panky thong is sold every 10 seconds around the globe. Why? The answer is simple: quality. In the end, it’s all about fit, function and fashion fun for which the brand is renowned.

This fall, in honor of its birthday, Hanky Panky® has launched the Decades Collection, a playlist of four new prints that coordinate effortlessly with the multi-faceted thong color palette. Available original low and hi-rise, extended, plus and petite sizes as well as clever packaging, these  thongs herald an exciting new era for the company.