This week Underlines catches up with Nichole de Carle, talented lingerie designer and founder of London Contour Experts (a luxury design house and product development consultancy with specialist expertise in lingerie, swimwear and activewear).
Nichole started her journey as a designer, graduating from De Montfort University with a first-class degree in contour design: at the time there were only 25 graduates globally with this specialist degree. After graduation she worked at design house Alexander McQueen in their London couture office, Donna Karan New York in their Madison Avenue design office and Pleasure State in their Sydney design office. Nichole launched her eponymous brand in 2010.
“The idea was to take all these amazing ingredients of learnt skills, industry knowledge and invaluable connections from my experience at the exceptional companies I had worked at and bake my own cake. I wanted to create my own business. My own brand. I launched my business in the luxury lingerie space, creating products that were sold globally and within major retailers such as Selfridges and Net-a-Porter. I also have had the pleasure of dressing some fabulously talented women over the years, including Beyoncé for the Grammys, Rita Ora and Kylie Minogue on their respective tours, and Jennifer Lopez for one of her films, plus many eclectic artists with the film and music industries.
“When I was building my brand, I realised that I needed an innovation lab where I could design, develop and manufacture at a smaller scale, keeping the retailers happy whilst managing my own website that I could update frequently. I wanted one place, one roof, where I could handle all aspects of my business. So I set up a company called London Contour Experts, a vertical business that is sustainably sourced and whilst our initial focus was purely on the lingerie industry, we have grown over the years into the swim and activewear market. We have two client categories: new brands starting their journey and more established brands requiring support with design and innovation. Since Brexit, we’ve grown our London factory as well as formed partnerships with manufacturers across Europe and China. We are lucky to have the independence to keep to our local market but can also offer clients Asian options if that is what they need.”
So how did the Nichole de Carle brand emerge?
“I launched it in 2010 which I sold in 2021. It began with a predominantly private client-driven consumer base who loved to own bespoke pieces of lingerie specifically designed to their bodies and taste. Most of our clients were international, wealthy, eccentric, globe trotters. We developed dynamic and innovative products sold directly to consumers.
“One design highlight is knickers with a certified diamond on every pair; a limited edition, collectable range sold at Selfridges but initially began as a direct-to-consumer sale. Other highlights include a 24 carat gold knicker, a lingerie hybrid wedding dress which was a lot of fun for the team, and a client based in the Russian Embassy who designed conical Madonna-esque, Jean-Paul Gautier-inspired pieces for himself.”
Where do you look for design inspiration?
“Interestingly, for me, design inspiration is driven by cross-pollinating industries. I look at what is happening in the interior industry as well as architecture and fashion and consider how they may be influencing the lingerie space. I like to look at trends, but I tend to want to rewrite them! It is good to keep an eye on trend predictions, but I also think it’s beneficial to carve out your own niche. In a saturated market, it is healthy to find those gaps to fill.”
What is different about designing these products?
“I believe the way that we design our products at London Contour Experts is driven by where the market opportunity is: we always think of the customer first. We work with a lot of younger brands, most of them quite niche, so we have the flexibility to assist in building their brand DNA and USP to help create something truly unique; we offer a brand creation service, looking at the tone, voice and aesthetic of the brand and helping them create a cohesive brand story across all their channels including product. We think about competition, opportunity and customers first but always try to carve out something new to innovate the industry.
“For more established brands, we mostly support the design. We plug into their in-house teams and help them from the initial concept onwards. We generally have sales data, brand ethos and brand identity guidelines to adhere to. Our job is to either build upon their current consumer base of create new categories that the brand might not currently have within its portfolio, sometimes targeting an entirely new consumer base.”
What are the highlights?
“I am always excited by where there are budding opportunist markets, where you’re helping to created something really rewarding, or where the entrepreneur we’re working with is authentic and excited about the brand they are building. We are currently building a transgender lingerie line, inspired by a transitioning family member of the entrepreneur. We are developing a range of products specifically for that target market, which are often side-lined in the industry.
“We also have a client who at the age of 23 had a double mastectomy and struggled to find beautiful post-surgery underwear that made her feel comfortable and confident, so she decided to create her own brand. One final example I have is a male client of ours who when he hit a certain age decided that it was his right to be able to wear whatever he wanted to wear and enjoyed wearing female lingerie. We helped him create a very feminine lingerie line designed to embrace the male body type. These kinds of dynamic, new and niche brands are London Contour Experts’ bread and butter and the kind of projects that excite us the most.”
So how exactly did London Contour Experts come about?
“I touched on this earlier however, London Contour Experts was founded in 2012 after I noticed a lack of product design labs in the UK, where brands could design freely, innovate regularly and make small ethically made sampling locally. I then slowly grew out the team, starting with skilled machinists and eventually developing our own lingerie training programme to perfect this skill. We became a hub for innovation, which attracted an international client base, working with clients from Australia to the Middle East UAE, even as far as the West Coast of California. The sourcing industry developed immensely during this time, allowing us to provide more sustainable raw material options with both recycled and biodegradable solutions.
“In 2015 we began working with Arabella London starting from scratch with product development, sourcing and sampling, and helping the brand launch its first collection from our London HQ. They are now manufacturing in Europe but London Contour Experts continues to help with new technical innovations, sampling and small production runs in London. We are always ready to support our past clients if needed: an aspect I feel is truly special to us is that we have a truly symbiotic relationship with our clients. Since then, our business has continued to flourish building a strong visionary team and working with some truly creative entrepreneurs and internationally renowned brands.”
Whom do you follow on social media to keep ahead of trends?
“I am very curious about changing shifts within the market, so I will browse social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter, as well as lingerie, swimwear and activewear groups where I can learn more about what’s going on in the space from industry insiders and how it’s developing. I also engage with industry experts on social media platforms who are constantly reporting about news within the industry. In the office we always have physical magazines, both B2B and B2C which detail upcoming collections and trends. Underlines is a magazine that’s always on someone’s desk.
“When it comes to social media I tend to scope the digital space. As a business, it’s important to consider the digital space as a future enterprise. Recently we’ve been researching 3D assets and how they can be used to perfect the design process as well as being an effective marketing tool for brands. The 3D universe and the Metaverse are no doubt impacting the industry, so I believe it’s vital for us to be looking into how we can provide support to brands with this. We are very concerned with sustainability; I am always looking at where there could be new schemes with suppliers, fabric innovation, and how sustainable these new aspects really are. 95% of what we do, our clients have considered sustainability within their design process. So it is vital that we keep abreast of where sustainability has a big impact on the brand and also the target consumer.”
What is the style of your target consumers?
“This is a tricky question as we design for many different brands that all have very different target consumers. We find that when the entrepreneurs are building their brand, the style is very much driven by their consumer target, which the entrepreneur is most likely a part of. We recently worked with an entrepreneur who created a luxury lingerie brand targeted towards the fuller busted woman. Through her own experiences she saw a gap in the market for sensual and elegant lingerie that still supported a larger bust comfortably. Our market research helped her see other consumer groups to target that she had not considered which then influenced her brand identity to focus on inclusivity.
“We help the entrepreneur see who else could potentially buy their product as it is unwise to create a brand for one specific consumer type. It varies a tremendous amount, but we always focus on customer first, so we conduct extensive market research using tools to understand that customer better, and their buying habits. If it is a B2B then the approach varies, we look at the store’s targets, their current customers and relate our findings back to the product we are designing.”
A Typical Week in Your Life?
“A rollercoaster. For any entrepreneur, from the moment they have their initial idea for a business till when they sell the business, a typical week is a blur. But I have learnt over the years that finding a strong and dependable team who understands your vision allows the entrepreneur to come up for air more regularly. A typical week would involve strategy meetings, reviewing objectives, face-to-face meetings with new clients, product fit meeting with existing clients, checking product deliverables and pitching out to new clients.
“We are finding there is a trend with fashion brands wanting to launch either a lingerie, swim or activewear category but don’t necessarily have the skill or industry knowledge to launch it themselves. London Contour Experts seem to be their go-to product category development support as we can assist them across all facets of the process in-house; these kinds of projects are quite time intensive and can take up a lot of the week. If there’s time, I try to go out and about and meet new clients face to face or attend trade shows. We have a very flexible working ethos implemented pre-Covid so the team works hybrid depending on their workflow. On a good week I try to squeeze in some weekday drinks with friends!”
Your proudest moment to date?
“Building a sustainable business that has a strong foundation, that would be my biggest achievement but proudest moment would have to be dressing Beyoncé for the Grammys, that was definitely a ‘pinch me’ moment!”
Your next big challenge?
“I think our next big challenge is establishing 3D assets as the norm when building their brand. The market is very fresh and not fully commercialised just yet so it can be hard to convince clients that this is something that needs to be seriously considered and incorporated into their business model.”
Your worst move so far?
“I think any entrepreneur needs to be careful not to scale the business too quickly or without the right people. You cannot run your business alone; you need to build a team which balances out your weaknesses and strengths. The worst move is perhaps temporarily hiring staff which might not have been the right fit for the position.”
What do you hope to achieve?
“I think just to continue to build the London manufacturing space, strengthen overseas partnerships and continue to be able to offer a fully realised and rounded service to our current and future clients.”
Time out?
“Over the years I have managed to get the balance more level. In the early years there was very little balance so with time out, I think leaving the country when possible is a great way to not only relax, but to uncover new pools of inspiration, coming back home with a fresh head.”
