Style news: Liam Lingerie is here - and why I’m obsessed

This past week saw Aotearoa-born label Liam celebrates the launch of Liam Lingerie: an edit of wireless bras and knickers that the brand promises you will be “proud to see the back of”. It certainly meets that brief and more, while effectively completing the Liam triangle: Ready Made, Lingerie & Patterns, and continues its quest to honour all bodies.
When it comes to bras in particular, as a two-time breast cancer survivor I have myriad issues with so many local lingerie offerings. While science has disproved a long-believed connection between breast cancer and underwire bras, actually wearing one post-mastectomy and over considerable ongoing scarring is absolutely brutal. Not to mention the general discomfort of an underwire in general, and the fact that a great wireless fit can deliver the same end result makes wire free a no brainer for me.
But I digress – back to Liam Lingerie…

“The realisation moment came when I clocked that I had been essentially building in bras to the dresses and tops I was designing because I couldn’t find a bra that I was happy to wear with them – especially when they had a low back” explains Liam Designer Emily Miller-Sharma. “I became obsessed with making bras that I would be proud to see the back of, and Liam Lingerie was born.”
After Emily developed the initial samples on herself, a six-month fit and wear testing process began. Working with 50 women across the size 4-24 range of the collection, the Liam team perfected fits and construction. They learned a raft of new insights from constant check ins with the fit models, including the revelation that one third either didn’t know, or were not wearing their correct bra size, and that there is a delicate balance between the fear, and the usefulness, of a tape measure. Like myself, many said that who they were wearing their lingerie for depended on the day, with joys to be found at times in the minimal and other times, in a statement fit.
“‘You do you’ became my mantra when developing designs, fits and colours,” says Emily, “are you wearing lingerie for yourself? For your lover? For how you are seen in the world? Is it hidden, a secret shared only with yourself? Peeking out? On full display? Full, medium, or low support? All are perfect and, I hope, all are catered for.”

As with Liam Ready Made, Liam Lingerie is available in sizes 4-24, and the collection’s name sakes – Mary Magdelene and Mother Mary – are a nod to the dichotomy of what is expected of women, with the collection’s pieces offering wearers a choice of how they want to be.
Wireless bras are offered in low, medium and full support, with gold coloured anti-tarnish stainless steel hardware and a single cobalt coloured O ring. Back straps can adjust the under bust band by up to two sizes which I love, and the knickers range to go with ranges from a recycled nylon mesh G-string, through to a full recycled cotton spandex brief. I love!

Liam Lingerie is in all RUBY stores + online at rubynz.com now.