In the ever-evolving world of fashion, consumer interest has shifted. Lingerie, loungewear, and activewear shoppers now favour dressed-down, natural, and relaxed styles. The acceleration of this trend may be due to dressing preferences formed during and after the pandemic, with people desiring functionality, longevity, and comfort.
Although some brands have adopted this direction in their recent campaigns, dressing for comfort and practicality are not trends for Neiwai. They have been our brand principles from day one.
A DBS Group Research finding noted that quiet luxury companies outperformed their “loud” peers by 23 percent in 2023. The emergence of this trend today further proves that consumers want a more intimate and personalised experience while still enjoying a high level of quality. I believe this extends beyond just products.
While the company has always advocated comfort and luxurious materials for everyday wear, our bigger goal is to foster a sense of ease and freedom for wearers. We believe the true definition of quiet luxury lies in combining a well-conceived product with the feeling it gives the wearer.
We seek to redefine the concept of sexy in a lingerie market predominantly occupied by Western brands, many of which were previously aligned with a homogeneous standard of sexiness. Our initial goal for Neiwai was simply to create a brand that resonates with women in China. This means products that embrace women’s bodies, regardless of their shape or size, to bolster their confidence and encourage body positivity.
Our lingerie journey is inspired by the practicality and elegance of everyday women in Asia. Today, we introduce this to the global market through the message that lingerie is not something that exists solely to please others. True beauty is when one feels comfortable embracing their own skin. Sticking to these authentic values has helped the brand stand out in the increasingly saturated lingerie and activewear markets.
In the womenswear industry, we are seeing words like “body positivity”, “inclusivity”, “sustainability”, and “female empowerment” front and centre in marketing campaigns. We firmly believe these values are not and should not be just marketing catchphrases. They are the core of Neiwai’s DNA. Comfort and body positivity shape our designs, not just our marketing.
Our Barely Zero collection, with over eight million units sold worldwide, embodies this ethos. Its success is based on empathising with women around the world. It has enabled us to make informed design choices when formulating the highly elastic fabric that directly answers women’s needs in undergarments. We regularly receive heartwarming feedback from customers about how it provides life-changing comfort, especially for pregnant women and those recovering from breast cancer surgery.
By understanding the needs and concerns of women of all shapes, sizes, and ages, inclusivity is, quite literally, weaved into our products. Neiwai’s operations reflect our commitment to our mission: creating a brand that enhances comfort and happiness without objectifying women’s bodies. The result is an elevated form of sexiness.
Our collaborations and campaigns reflect this ethos. In all of them, we show rather than tell. As an example, our Nobody is Nobody campaign, which ran from 2020 to 2023, encouraged consumers to break free from the male gaze and embrace body diversity. Many lingerie brands, especially in Asia, don’t advocate this. Driven by our belief that representation matters, we celebrate women in their most authentic forms by engaging everyday women in our visuals instead of celebrities. We want our audience to see themselves in our campaigns.
We also embrace our audience as a dynamic community of empowered individuals. Our podcast series, created in collaboration with Stochastic Volatility, which featured the stories and experiences of female leaders across different industries and their perspectives on contemporary women in the workplace, family, friendship, and personal growth, embodies this philosophy.
As a female founder, I recognise the significance of having powerful role models so that the women of tomorrow can draw inspiration from the journeys of women who have paved the way before them. It is my aspiration to cultivate a space within Neiwai’s platform where our audience can find empowering narratives and diverse perspectives. Ultimately, we want to break through the noise in the market by being a brand that understands everyday women around the world—their needs, wants, interests, and concerns.
With today’s consumers making more well-informed purchasing decisions, enhancing sustainability efforts and business transparency are important to maintain an edge in a competitive market.
Besides encouraging body positivity, Neiwai is dedicated to becoming a sustainable lifestyle brand. We conscientiously produce our lingerie, loungewear, swimwear, and athleisure collections using sustainable materials, and select only high-quality and eco-friendly material suppliers like PrimaLoft, Vita, Tencel, and The Woolmark Company.
Beyond sustainable materials, we have also launched a global sustainable crossover with Austrian brand Wolford, which produces high-quality skinwear. Its Cradle to Cradle gold-level certification standard follows the concept of cyclic utilisation. Our collaboration has further encouraged the exploration and integration of Eastern and Western cultures through cross-sharing sustainable design concepts and environmental protection practices.
Intentionality should be a key priority for all fashion brands today. There is more
to values than just verbal declarations. They should be seamlessly woven into every collaboration, campaign, and end-to-end operation. By embracing authenticity and inclusivity at our core and producing sustainable collections in a dynamic fashion landscape, we believe Neiwai has the potential to become a positive benchmark for a contemporary Chinese brand celebrating body positivity and promoting made-in-China designs on the global stage.
