Liam Aims To Make Lingerie For Every Body. Here’s How They Put Their Underwear To The Test

Liam is set to launch a new wireless lingerie line. Designer Emily Miller-Sharma speaks to Madeleine Crutchley about the meticulous trial and error it took to get it right.

Underwire that digs into your rib cage, a lack of support, straps that leave angry red marks or fall off your shoulders – the sensations of a bad bra are unbelievably uncomfortable.

Liam designer and Ruby general manager Emily Miller-Sharma is familiar with dressing room discomfort. She has designed clothing since she was 14 years old, so it’s rare she has to buy pieces she cannot create herself.

But lingerie is a category Emily has to shop for – and it has historically been an unpleasant experience.

“I’m about a double G cup size. What that means is, unless there’s shaping in the garments to support my boobs, I don’t feel comfortable not wearing a bra out in public.

“When my bras are at a point of no return, I have to go and get a new one. [There are] genuine tears in the changing room or when I leave, because what’s available to me, for my cup size is just not what I see myself wearing.”

Emily characterises the options available for larger cup sizes as resembling “architectural framework”. While she acknowledges these bras have a place, she’s been dissatisfied with the way they slip into view when layered underneath tank tops or garments with a low back.

“I feel funny, like itchy, when I can see the back of a typical bra on me. Usually one of the hook and eyes is bent, the hook and tape is usually a slightly different colour to the main colour and it’s a little bit pilled.

“For me, it feels messy. It feels like I’ve got an unmade bed or a chipped nail. It makes me feel not good.”

Emily’s personal experiences as both a consumer and designer will culminate in a new release today. Liam lingerie, a range of wireless bras and underwear, will be available for purchase in-store at Ruby and online. The range will encompass sizes 4 to 24.

The potential to expand this expertise into lingerie began, in earnest, one year ago, when the designer began developing the Estar dress – a bias cut slip dress which features a corset-style lace up back. Emily wrestled with the design, trying to ensure it had proper support so the wearer wouldn’t need to don a bra beneath the detailing.

“It is stupidly difficult to get that bit right.”

The final version has a built-in shelf bra. But the development of the garment encouraged Emily to think differently about the way she was approaching this design problem.

“It made me realise that, as a designer, I was having to do all of this additional work around so that I could have a backless dress or a dress with a low back, or a top with a low back. When actually, if I had a bra that I wouldn’t mind being seen under it...

“Maybe it would be this fantastic revelation and all of my pattern-making decisions would be simplified.”

For Liam garments, Emily has consistently aimed to create sturdy support. She was attuned to an issue she hadn’t realised she was trying to solve.

“In this case, I’ve been working at Ruby for 17 to 18 years. It’s taken me that long to go, ‘oh, the root cause is not the clothing.’ There’s actually a whole other solution that I hadn’t fully considered.”

So began a long, thorough testing process. Lingerie is famously fussy and technical – though the patterns are tiny when compared to other garments, the consequences of a bad fit are nuanced (and if done poorly, make the piece unwearable).

Once the first samples for the pieces came in, Emily wore them herself for six months.

“That was a trip, because those first samples... the fits were bad. I still had to wear them because I also needed to test the fabric and the metal trims in terms of the tarnishing.”

After those samples were developed according to Emily’s feedback, the design team trialled the pieces on more than 50 fit models. They trialled sample sizes 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, and 24.

It was a more intimate version of the fit testing Emily was familiar with.

“I really have to honour them because it’s intense... the level of trust that they had to put in me.”

The process also highlighted the changeable nature of the bodies Emily aims to design for. Fluctuations between sizes were really common, which reaffirmed the importance of working with wireless.

“As someone who’s really obsessed with trying to make clothes to fit as many people as possible, having that level of flexibility or fluidity and the pieces is really important.”

Emily will keep up these rigorous tests in future developments for the label, too – knowing all too well what the alternative means for people in the changing rooms.

“If we think about my experience of having a terrible time buying knickers, if somebody is granting me the generosity, the vulnerability of trying on a bra, I really want to know that I’ve done everything I can to make it fit the most number of people well.”

Liam Lingerie launches on October 30.

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