"We work together very well, but we have our bad days"
No longer the preserve of saucy seaside postcards or racks of grey bloomers in Marks & Spencer, underwear has now taken its place alongside snigger-free fashion as the basis for a profitable business.
Respectability has bred a mushrooming public demand for lingerie, although as Emma Cheevers, one half of State of Undress, admits, more traditional attitudes still exist.
“My parents would like me to go to law school tomorrow – they would send a helicopter over to take me back!” says the Canadian designer. “My family is supportive, but I think it’s hard to see your highly-educated child say ‘No, I’m not going to do that, I’m going to do this’ and have no firm source of money coming in.
“Also, when people ask my parents what I do, they have to say, ‘Oh, she owns a knicker company.’ That element can be hard.”
Emma founded State of Undress with fellow St. Martin’s student Alexandra Suhner upon graduation. Even though the two both hailed from the same area of Vancouver, their paths only crossed at the London college.
Their mutual love of fashion blossomed rapidly into State of Undress, purveyor of high-quality silk lingerie that draws its inspiration from 1940s film star glamour.
“I’m a long-time collector of lingerie – I remember my mum wandering around in the 70s in negligees, I thought it was so glamorous and I had them in my dressing-up trunks,” Emma recalls.
“We love lingerie but it is also desperately cheap to start up in. Our first collection cost £1,500 in total, whereas to start a womanswear or menswear collection would cost about £10,000. We started it on a thong!
"We love lingerie but it is also desperately cheap to start up in"
“After we finished our degrees, I was working for a catwalk photographer and Alex was freelancing for Burberry. Both of us were exhausted from fashion week and I said that I was going home to open a lingerie company like Agent Provocateur, because there was nothing like that in Canada.
“But she said ‘No, don’t do that, we can start one here.’ Within three weeks we had all the styles and factories, it was all very rushed. We never really wanted out own businesses, it was an accidental thing. I always wanted to work for other people and have a nice safe job!
“This company is like a lovechild – we started it on a whim and we never realised how hard it would be but how enjoyable it would be at the same time.”
