BRADELIS- THE COMFORTABLE UNDER COUTURE

Model wears Classy Bra

​Comfortable couture, a term I’ve penned to sum up Akiyo Hirakubo’s brand Bradelis. After meeting with the company and discovering the ethos behind the innovative lingerie company it was the best way to describe Bradelis, a company that are putting women’s confidence and voices at the forefront of importance.
 
With their headquarters in Japan, founder Akiyo Hirakubo began the company in 1991. After studying abroad in the U.S and encountering the experience of getting fitted in the U.S for a bra, she realized how important that experience was. That it wasn’t just an undergarment she was purchasing but something that can give you a quiet confidence, a wow experience that she wanted others to experience. So it inspired her to begin her own line of lingerie, something she felt was perhaps missing for a winder customer in the market place. 
 

Model wears Luminous Slip

​The mission of Hirakubo is a simple one. She wants women to feel good in their own skin. To know that one size doesn’t fit all, that different body types exist and they are all beautiful. She wants to give women a positive experience when being sized and purchasing their bras. 
 
A shocking statistic of 80% of women in the Unites States are wearing the wrong size bra and perhaps an even larger percentage of women don’t feel comfortable in their own skin and are neglecting this part of themselves. Hirakubo wanted to help change this.
 
The company was founded in 1991 in Japan, expanding to NY in 1994. Japan now has 20 stores with 160 store staff. The key to the company is the personal experience, so the knowledge of the staff members was of huge importance to Hirakubo, giving them over 600 hours of training to ensure that every customer got that personal positive experience. She wants to give her customers the experience of feeling truly comfortable. Especially those that feel insecurities with themselves, to give them that confidence to feel good in their own skin. To break away from the image that every body type has to fit into a standard ideal, Hirakubo really wants her customers to embrace themselves. 
 
In order to reach a wider customer the company expanded their online business and has a QVC presenter who represents the brand with the company mission of encouraging women to embrace themselves. Sales staff are not only selling the products but fitting and consulting and semi-customizing the bra to suit their customer, everything from strap length, to removing or adding pads for the customers preference, a customised personalised experience which is the DNA of the brand. 
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​The customer’s voice is really at the heart of shaping and developing Bradelis. The bra has 15 patents on their pieces. One of which is the three-layered tunnel support on their bra. It supports from three sides, including the front of the breast, so it creates shape but with comfort. It doesn’t cut into the skin but rounds the skin with no underwire needed. The cup is almost in a smooth curve, there is so much detail in each component. Wireless but still giving support, holding up, but not with any wires that are going to dig into the skin.

Model wears seamless push up bra. 

The company is always listening to their customers feedback, what they need and then incorporates that into the development of their pieces. Every season, there’s new developments, perhaps tiny things but always putting the customer at the forefront and having their voices heard and not trying to standardise the woman’s body.

Hirakubo chose New York as the city to set up the company in the US because it’s a creative city, has a confidence to the city that resonates with the brand, reflecting Bradelis own ethos.

Lingerie really can change how a woman feels about themselves. When Hirakubo was at the store and she heard the customers from the fitting room speaking about their positive experience of trying on a Bradelis bra from the changing room, it really touched her. Hearing the confidence coming through, not realizing they could look and feel as confident as they did in the moment of discovering the brand. An inner assurance, a quiet confidence they can carry with them. 
 
Comfortable couture and inner confidence. Something every woman deserves. 
 
Price range is $42 up to and up for more decorated couture pieces.


Find Bradelis at:

IG @Bradelisny
www.bradelisnewyork.com
Stocked at – Flying Solo

• Photographer: kenji shibata @k_shibataphotographyworks
• Hair & makeup Stylist: sonoko @sonokopper_hairmake
• Talent/Model: Matilda @matildanavratil