An Evening with Panache

After several issues with Blogger, I'm so happy to finally be publishing this post! I took these photos on a different camera and after editing Blogger just would not load them. I'm thinking of moving my blog over to WordPress because of these issues, if anybody has any advice, leave me a comment!

I have to thank Holly from Tea and Blush for inviting me to this blogger evening at Panache Lingerie which is based right here in Sheffield. It was such a great evening and it was so cool to learn about the evolution of a collection, from mood-boarding to shooting editorial for the finished garment. 

Panache was established in 1982 by Anthony Power, a former Playtext employee. He began by selling 'end of line' lingerie and noticed the most popular styles were the larger cup sizes; and so Panache was born. By 1989 Panache had become a global brand, hiring an in-house design team and opening an office in Hong Kong. Panache is now sold in 53 countries worldwide and their New York office has just relocated to larger premises to include a showroom. The head office for the brand remains in Sheffield, keeping to it's UK heritage.

Each designer at Panache works on two seasons at a time, talk about fast-fashion! Panache focus their energy on ensuring customers can trust the brand: season after season the bras fit exactly the same. As well as the 'Core Collection' (pictured below), Panache creates lingerie each season in trend focused colourways, for women who like to follow fashion. The design process takes around five months, beginning with collecting feedback from the previous season before mood-boarding begins for the next season. I loved seeing the inspiration behind the garments on the mood boards and how that translated to a finished collection. I've never really seen fashion behind-the-scenes like this before.   

Within the Panache brand are several other brands, including Panache Sport, swimwear and also Cleo. While at the Head Office we had the chance to meet Debbie, one of the Panache designers and she described Cleo as the brand they could really have fun with in terms of colour and print and that is definitely evident in the above pieces. How gorgeous is the print on this longline bra! The Panache office is so pretty, it's literally filled with beautiful lingerie, I loved it.

What's special about Panache they actually have a sewing room within the Head Offices where they manufacture product. We were all obsessed with the thread wall! Above is the lovely Alesha modelling the Panache Sport bra and all it's component parts. The sports bra took three years to develop and underwent incredibly rigorous testing to ensure it was comfortable and supportive. What I didn't know is that this sports bra actually has a wire within it, so that you get the same level of support whatever you wear.  

When it comes to shooting the editorial adverts for the collection, Jennie explained to us the campaigns are 'women sexy' and not 'man sexy'. Panache lingerie is about women buying for themselves and making women feel good in their own skin. For this reason the brand only retouches the colour in their adverts and not the models natural body. I think this is so important in promoting a healthy body image, rather than creating aspiration to an unachievable ideal. How amazing does this model look? 

Not only does Panache promote a positive body image in their adverts, they also want to inspire women in all areas of life. Shockingly, 75% of women believe there are no aspirational female role models for them to look up to and that is why their campaign Modelled by Role Models is so important. It shines a light on six inspirational women, including Paralympian Hannah Cockroft, marrying their success and contributions to society with their healthy approach to body image. You can find out more about the Role Models here.  

My evening with Panache was really amazing, I learnt so much about fashion and manufacturing and met some lovely people. It's great that Sheffield is still the home to a global brand like Panache. You can find stockist information here. Check back this week for a little look inside our goody bags, and how I styled my 'Made in Sheffield' scarf!