Panty firm targets new moms
Special underwear will retail for between $28 and $38 a pair
After years of plotting to change the underwear world, Joanna Griffiths is setting out to make 25,000 pairs of panties.
The difference between most other intimates and Knix Wear Inc., from seamless basics to lace thongs, is in the fabric.
Griffiths is targeting new moms and others, who she says make up one-third of women experiencing stress incontinence, a “light leak” when they exercise, sneeze or laugh. The fabric inside the legs is absorbent and anti-microbial without appearing any different from ordinary underwear.
“We really should have better underwear solutions that work with women,” said Griffiths, 29, ahead of launching Thursday on crowdfunding platform indiegogo.com.
“We’re trying to make something that’s discreet and also fashionable.”
Through pre-orders and contributions, she hopes to raise $40,000 in 30 days to help fund her first batch. The underwear will retail for between $28 and $38 per pair.
Griffiths is up against a crowded lingerie market in general and other emerging options specific to women with incontinence issues.
While women’s apparel sales were up 5.5 per cent in January, lingerie sales took a dip in January, when sales were down 0.8 per cent, according to Trendex North America.
“Some brands have been around for a long, long time so I don’t think it’s that easy to break in to,” said Toronto retail consultant Wendy Evans.
As well as branded retailers —
“We’re trying to make something that’s discreet and also fashionable.” JOANNA GRIFFITHS KNIX WEAR INC.
among them La Vie en Rose, La Senza, Victoria’s Secret — taking a large share of the market, there are also small independent specialists and larger department stores selling established brands, Evans said.
“However, at the same time, it’s always nice to have something new and different,” she said, adding newcomers can be blocked by complicated patenting and fears larger producers will jump on their ideas. Evans said there are already brands with similar ideas as Griffiths but baby boomers could provide a huge audience. Stride Everyday already sells women’s and men’s underwear with light leak protection at Shoppers Drug Mart. From her office at Queen St. W. and Bathurst St., where she works with one other full-time employee, Griffiths said she knows there are similar options out there. But she maintains her patented, trademarked designs with silver sewn in to eliminate odour, are different, and specifically won’t be sold in drug stores. Griffiths, who earlier this year vis- ited the South Korean factory where the garments will be made, said a lack of awareness demonstrates the need for her products. “I’ll describe to (women) what I’m doing and what it’s for and they’ll say, ‘That happens to me and I never knew what it was,’ ” Griffiths said. She said she was unaware of how much stress incontinence puts on people until she had a conversation with her mother and a doctor. While working in marketing and entertainment in Toronto, she kept thinking of the demand. She decided to pursue the entrepreneurial idea while completing her MBA in France last year, where it was well received.