BRAND NEW DIRECTIONS
These women have found their underwear business niche
‘Bras should be inspiring’
Priya Downes, a 40-year-old former head of merchandising at Burberry, has always had a passion for business.
In 2019, she launched her lingerie brand, Nudea, with Sophie Turnbull, a former head of bra innovation at Victoria’s Secret. Priya lives in Buckinghamshire, with her husband Jason and their three children Jasper, seven, Rupert, five, and Penny, two.
THE IDEA
Ever since I started wearing a bra as a teenager, I had been disappointed with what was on offer. I felt uninspired when it came to shopping for something I wore every day, and saw the opportunity to leverage my skills to create truly unique lingerie that was comfortable and beautiful. I also wanted to make shopping for bras convenient, modern and inspiring.
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT
Sophie and I had met while working together at fashion label Fiorucci. Prior to launching Nudea in 2019, we carried out pioneering size and fit research with more than 600 women in the UK via Facebook ads and our own networks.
This revealed that 80% of women wear the wrong bra size because 75% haven’t been fitted in more than three years, which led to us developing our own custom-fitting tools, including a trademarked Fit Tape, which is designed for accurate self-measurement at home.
Prior to lockdown, one of our strategies was ‘fit parties’. This concept stemmed from workshops we held where we saw that there was a social aspect to getting fitted. We conducted research at these ‘fit parties’ – often hosted by an influencer or network connection in their home – which morphed into direct selling once we launched. A group of friends could get together in a comfortable setting, enjoy a glass of wine, get fitted and learn about the brand. It was also a great opportunity for new customers to feel and try on the product. The parties helped to build momentum, awareness, and drive sales, both at the parties and at nudea.com. Nudea supported more than 15,000 women to measure up at home throughout lockdown.
BREAKTHROUGH MOMENT
Online sales started tripling every month after lockdown in March 2020, and our next breakthrough moment was launching with John Lewis & Partners in September 2021.
STEEPEST LEARNING CURVE
Funding the business was tough.
We raised two rounds of funding, including £470,000 from 670 people in 28 days, through the platform Crowdcube, at the end of February, but getting a ‘no’ for funding for my business baby is the hardest thing I’ve had to overcome.
