"THE BEST PART OF SIMONE PERELE IS THE PART WE FORGET ABOUT!"

– Simone Perele

Katia Charle has been the Creative Director of Simone Perele  for over twenty years, working behind the scenes at one of the France’s most celebrated lingerie companies in France. We recently touched base with Charle for a quick snapshot of Simone Perele.

LF: You once said that  “women must be able to forget that they are wearing a bra.” What specific research is involved in designing a bra that has such a seamless fit?

Charle: Madame Simone Perele herself said: “The best part of Simone Perele is the part we forget about!” I couldn’t agree more with her. At Simone Perele, we don’t sacrifice beauty and aesthetics for comfort and fit. Our fabrics are rigorously selected for how they conform to every shape and size. For example, we refuse to use fabrics that are too soft or light when we go up in cup size. We rework the elasticity of fabrics for optimal fit, whether those fabrics are lace, embroidery, knitted fabrics, bra straps – everything is meticulously studied to respond to women’s specific needs.

Furthermore, during product development – which can last up to eight months – our products are worn, washed and tested for a maximum amount of constructive information. Alterations are sometimes done down to the millimeter – and even traced with pencil! Everything is done so that women who wear Simone Perele are perfectly fitted and utterly delighted.

LF: Many American women don’t know that French lingerie brands like Simone Pérèle make bras for full-busted women. What particular design elements in your line “Revelation” are adapted for the full-busted woman?

Charle: We’ve been making large bra cup sizes for a long time and, yes, we fit every kind of woman! As I mentioned, all of our fabrics are designed and produced based on the specific needs of women: Wide straps for larger
sizes have less extension than the same straps in a smaller size. That’s important for comfort and support.

It’s also important that the design of embroidery or lace be created with cup size in mind. Certain designs that end up too small or too light are not acceptable. Moreover, we design for all body types and every type of personal style and attitude: some full-busted women like to enhance their busts while others prefer to minimize them. That’s why our Revelation line comes in several forms.

LF: What are the particular challenges involved in designing lingerie for a variety of women with different body types and aesthetic sensibilities?

Charle:  Each collection is a new challenge  - I often say that I pass two tests a year! Each season we create  four or five new lines, and in each line we have from three to six different Simone Perele models. We do our best so that each line has its own personality to respond to the desires of different women. I use the word “desires" because women vary, right? But that’s also what makes it so exciting: We create around 300 prototypes every season which are all analyzed and designed to respond to the needs of the countries where Simone Perele is distributed.

LF:  If you had one piece of advice to give to an American woman who was buying her first Simone Pérèle bra and knew nothing about French lingerie, what would it be?

Charle: The best advice is to try it on a Simone Perele bra, because to try it on is to love it! That said, it’s important to be measured well beforehand: The separator should be snug. If there’s underwire, it should be perfectly aligned under the breast.  The back should be horizontal to the ground. Straps would be well-adjusted: not too much, not too little. The top of the cup should fall correctly on the breast.

FL: You have referred to “aged metals” as inspiration for future collections. Could you describe what you mean by that and what innovations you envision in future collections?

Charle: I was referring to a winter trend: colors mirroring the colors of aged metals: rust orange, for example, slightly oxidized bronze, irregular and shiny chestnut, bright mat reds. In future collections, we’ll have innovative fabrics with a new, very, very soft spacer and a controlled stretch for larger sizes. We’ll also have sleek styling with extra flat finishes that requires very special technology....but  this is in the future, so we all need a little patience!