Two years ago, Oria Mackenzie and Amelie Salas were working at Farfetch, the luxury e-commerce marketplace, when they noted during a discussion that there wasn’t an underwear brand that fused comfort, function and fashion.

“We felt that customers were having to choose between overly-sexualised designs or beige basics that didn’t connect with their personal style,” says Mackenzie. “We wanted to bridge the gap between comfort and fashion and create a progressive underwear brand for the next generation of lingerie shoppers. Why can’t we – women of all shapes and sizes – have both comfort and style?” 

The answer comes in the form of the duo’s underwear brand Underdays, which launched this week, and is already being dubbed the Glossier of underwear. The similarities between the two are vast: both are branded with the same use of ironic nostalgic colours, which are fodder for social media, and both endeavour to foster community among their customer base.

“The narrative has changed from dressing for a male gaze to women buying underwear for themselves and wanting to connect to the values and purpose of a brand,” Salas adds. “We’re trying to help women rewrite sexiness on their own terms.” 

Underdays underwear sizing runs the gamut from XS to XXL and has been designed specifically to be the reprise that women need from their current underwear. In the pair’s research, they scoured through countless competitor reviews, conducted surveys of their target audience and had over 50 rounds of user-testing before they signed off on their designs.

“The design process really started and ended with insights from our customers, which we think has never really been done before in the lingerie industry,” Mackenzie says. “One of the most interesting things we found out from all of our research, is that most women find that their gusset (the internal lining inside of a brief or thong) is not long enough and doesn’t give the protection they need.” 

The result of the duo’s extensive and thorough research is underwear that’s silky soft (Underdays’ undies are crafted from bamboo, which is more conscious) and both functional and fashionable. “It’s small tweaks like this that really sets us apart and why we’re hoping to finally give women the underwear they deserve,” Salas says.

Since the decline of Victoria’s Secret, and in a lingerie industry that had an estimated worth of £3.5 billion in 2020, the Underdays-shaped space in the market is clear. Mackenzie concedes: “Our mission is essentially to redefine the underwear industry and give women a voice through underwear.”

Shop Underdays here.

Images: courtesy of Underdays.