This Friday Underlines chats to Eleanor Tuohy, Founder of the Wildness brand and e-commerce site – a company that had its beginnings in personal misfortune and family bereavement. However her dream came to fruition when after planning this for 3 years, Eleanor opened her website at the beginning of July 2024.
In her early 50’s Eleanor came from a very different background than lingerie as she explains:
“I have worked all my life in TV news and current affairs, with a brief period of time working for a powerful talent agent, which was very much like Call My Agent, but without the humour … and a lot more trauma!
I have loved beautiful lingerie since my late teens, clearly my taste has evolved over the decades but I absolutely believe great underwear can help put you in the right mindset for the day”.
Why the world of lingerie…? Tell us more about your brand and e-site
The move from loving lingerie to actually making it started in 2016.
I’d been ill and had to have radiotherapy and – as anyone who’s had it will know – it makes your skin really sore and feels horribly sunburnt. I had a ticket for Glastonbury that year, which was on just as my treatment finished. I wanted to go and feel like myself again. I needed to wear some kind of bra but wanted something that made me smile and it was essential that it was made of cotton due to my scorched skin. I couldn’t find anything I wanted to buy anywhere; the only options were really bland, characterless pieces. I ended up wearing a beautiful fuchsia Eberjey bralette with a cornflower blue men’s cotton handkerchief underneath, it looked a bit random but no-one else could see it and it made me happy!
That frustration at not being able to find cotton underwear that felt related to the aesthetic of luxury lingerie stayed with me. During lockdown I took courses in underwear design and business at UAL, but was stumped about how I would get the project and my designs off the ground. Then awfully, as the country was coming out of lockdown, we had a family tragedy and we lost my brother Chris. To my complete amazement he had left me some money. As the family came together in grief, I found I had a cousin, Eliza McCann who had studied underwear design at De Montfort … so out of the heartbreak something good started to grow.
Tempest
Eliza and I worked together for 18 months until her own brand Noelle started to take off and am so grateful for her encouragement and support. Now my Technical Partner is Kathryn Pomfret, who has worked with a range of brands including Hunza G, she currently works for a highly respected high street lingerie retailer as well as working with Wildness.
Another key member of the team has been my daughter Poppy Mannion. Poppy is a working artist and she’s helped with the Art Direction for our shoots, she’s also modelled for us and is putting together all our social media content and ads. I love that the brand has such a grounding in our family.
What has been crucial to all of us along the way has been building Wildness as sustainably as possible. It’s tough, it makes the price point higher than we’d hoped, but that’s proved to be the price of making quality pieces in Europe with sustainable fabrics that don’t use elastane. We’re also talking to the UKFT to find a recycling partner for our pieces when they wear out.
I couldn’t have started this brand without making it as green as we possibly could. I’ve done stories in my other work-life about the clothing mountains in Ghana and I couldn’t bear to think I’d be starting anything that could contribute to that.
Float
Your proudest moment to date?
On a personal level, when my daughter Poppy – who is very dyslexic and was written off by many of her teachers – graduated from Chelsea College of Art.
In terms of Wildness I think it was when the delivery of our first collection arrived, I was suddenly surrounded by the physical proof of years of effort – that was pretty amazing. I’m really proud when we send our orders out, everything about them looks as I wanted them to, from the pieces, to the labels to the swing tags!
I was also really proud when I found my early drawings the other day…the pieces we have created absolutely bear out the intention and aesthetic of those early thoughts.
Your biggest mistake?
I did worry a lot about coming across as stupid as I navigated a new industry. I think that was a real waste of energy, there’s nothing to be ashamed of if you’re learning something new, just because you need something explained, it doesn’t mean you don’t have the capacity to understand it.
I also paid for some very in-depth e-commerce analysis at a really early stage in the process of building Wildness, that I really didn’t understand. I thought that was huge waste of money at the time, although it is proving much more useful now …so maybe it wasn’t a mistake, just a question of timing.
What is different about working in this sector?
I’ve found working in lingerie to be an absolute revelation in terms of how people interact with each other. So far, everyone I’ve encountered has been so generous with their time and encouragement. When I’ve explained our business and my background, a whole range of people have really taken the time to offer direction and advice; from fabric manufacturers and dye houses, to factories and shippers. News can be a brutal environment, as speed is so crucial, sometimes basic day to day warmth and friendliness falls by the wayside. I’m loving the friendliness and positivity I’ve encountered. I’m not naive and realise this may not always be the case, but for now I’ll take it!
Spirit
Those Special Moments in your career
My most special moment, or more accurately series of moments, has been the launch of the first Wildness collection and the feedback we’ve had. It has been such a delight to hear from a really diverse range of women, of all ages, that they love the designs and how comfortable the range is. That response has made the whole journey absolutely worth it.
If you were not working in intimate apparel, then what do you think you would have done instead?
I think if I’d not moved into this world I would have stayed working entirely in news, which would have meant staying within my comfort zone. I think we all have so many facets to our characters, it’s important to try and use all of them. I’m really grateful I’ve had this opportunity, but it’s bittersweet, I do quietly thank my brother every day.
Any idea where you will be in 10 years time?
In 10 years’ time I want Wildness to be well known as a brand with a reputation for excellent quality and elegant, sustainable design. I’d like to have a flagship store in London, with another in Glasgow. Glasgow has humour, energy and closeness to the Highlands…real wildness.
Down the road, I also want to develop a collaboration with a major retail chain, so that the qualities that are so important to Wildness can be brought to more customers at a price point that is more accessible to more people.
What is your greatest challenge?
Finding a factory to work with that I felt comfortable about, that treats its workers well was a challenge, as was finding one that would make small production runs. The team we’ve found in Romania are fantastic. It would be great if one day we can manufacture in the UK, to reduce our carbon footprint further and help create jobs here.
The one product you cannot live without?
I know this sounds like marketing nonsense but I honestly find I can’t live without our briefs now…they are so comfortable. The jersey is gorgeously soft and there’s no VPL, the gusset is cut well and there’s no seam up the front, they make for a very happy day.
Wildness
Time out
There hasn’t been a huge amount of free time in the last year, but when I do have some, I go for long solo walks in the South Downs. I find good ideas often surface out there. Aside from that I’ll spend as much time as possible with my husband Rog who is the kindest man in the world and people that make me laugh; my son Tom, my family and friends and in no particular order; Roddy Doyle’s Two Pints, Gary Oldman in Slow Horses, and Maya Rudolph in Loot.
Pet Hate?
Seams up the front of briefs. People do know how the female body is laid out, right? It’s absolutely baffling to me.
