By ESTELLE PULESTON
“Always have fun with fashion. Dress to entertain yourself,” Betsey Johnson once said, and it’s an approach that’s shared by Holly Biswas, founder of the new Holly Lulu lingerie brand, who dreams of one day having her own Betsey Johnson-inspired runway show at New York Fashion Week.
Biswas first got the idea for Holly Lulu after leaving behind New York’s fashion scene to return to Australia to be with her now-husband. Hungry to reinvigorate her creative side, and with a love of lingerie but feeling bored by what she saw around her, she decided there was a gap in the market for well-designed, great-fitting lingerie that was brimming with playful color.
After three years of designing, researching and development, including finding a factory in China that understood her vision and that was BSCI-approved, Holly Lulu made its official debut earlier this year.
“The vision for the brand is to create a space for self-expression. To bring color, self-love and glamor to our customers’ everyday lives,” she explains, going on to describe the typical Holly Lulu customer as “fun and quirky”. Looks are inspired by tropical island escapes, with Biswas aiming to capture that vibrant vacation vibe through bright, contrasting-but-complementary color schemes such as mint green with purple, or pink with yellow.
Although designed as separate lingerie sets, her debut look book also features some pieces being mixed-and-matched between the ranges for even more unexpected color combinations. Biswas also had outerwear styling options in mind when creating the collection, saying “Holly Lulu bras are designed to be styled with a full lingerie set or with a well-fitting suit or high-waisted pants for that 90s look.”
Another thing that’s central to her brand, she says, is a commitment to catering to a wide range of body types and ensuring they’re represented in her marketing content and on her brand’s social media profiles. “Garments are designed… so that the cut of each piece is flattering on a range of bodies,” she told me, “I always make sure to fit each style on different body types and cup sizes before signing off on each design.”
She also notes that ‘fashion lingerie’ such as hers doesn’t tend to cater to larger cup sizes, something she’s changing by offering bras in both regular and ‘plus’ cup sizing e.g. S+ for those who need the band size of a Small but with more room in the cup. Overall, her line currently fits from a US 30A to a US 40G and XXS-2X for coordinates, but she’s hoping to expand that even further with her next collection.
Until then, you’ve got your pick of six key looks which include a range of silhouettes from bralettes to underwired bras and from high-leg thongs to full coverage bottoms. Prices run from 39-119 AUD, approximately 26-80 USD.
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Contact information:
Website: https://www.hollylulu.com/
Instagram: @hollyluluintimates
Email: info@hollylulu.com
