All successful businesses have one thing in common, finding a gap in the market and having intense consumer focus.
Shape, a small startup began by truly trying to solve a problem that all women have. Why are bras so uncomfortable?
The apparel industry of Bangladesh, a dominant force in the global market, exports lingerie and intimate clothing worth $700 million per year to the West.
And yet women in Bangladesh have very limited choice when it comes to lingerie as the garments designed for Western women are a poor fit for South Asian women.
“The apparel industry in Bangladesh is male-dominated, and it lacks the knowledge for catering to women’s intimate clothing needs,” says Monoshita Ayruani, the founder of Shape.
“They make proportional sizes for women and that automatically excludes our average body types,” she added.
With a key focus on body inclusiveness and “Every Body Matters” as its motto, Shape makes an intimate clothing line that specifically caters to South Asian women.
Their seamless bras have a cult following as it does not have an underwire but still holds shape and provides the kind of comfort women have been looking for, for years.
“Think of three women — a European, an American, and a Bangladeshi. We have three different body types. However, the garments industry in Bangladesh is export-oriented for the most part, and so locally produced garments and undergarments are usually not ones that a Bangladeshi woman can use,” explained Ayruani, who started Shape in response to her own frustrations as a customer.
Women in Bangladesh, and the South Asian region as a whole, are mostly left to sift through leftovers from the West that generally do not include their sizes.
“We are clueless about our sizes, and there aren’t a lot of places that can accurately tell us about that either,” Ayruani further said.
And many women have become used to experiencing pain — it always comes down to looking good as opposed to being comfortable.
“Imagine wearing a bra for 18 hours and it is constantly hurting. It takes away from your work capacity,” she said.
“At Shape, we have 11 + band sizes. So, we are trying to be inclusive of everyone.”
Shape also caters to various other needs, even bringing in maternity bras and mastectomy bras.
Shaping up for success
“The business is going to sustain,” the founder says. “Because we are solving such a big problem that people are going to pay money for it.”
The Stanford Seed Transformation Program agrees with her, which selected Shape following a nomination by the Bangladesh Angels Network.
According to the pitch by Shape, women are not being able to live up to their full potential as they are uncomfortable and in pain due to a piece of clothing they wear on a daily basis, for hours on end.
“Through this program we can get access to all those things and a lot of resources to scale,” Ayruani said, adding: “Shape wants to become a one-stop shop for women’s needs where you can order a bra and also buy sanitary pads.”
But her broader vision for Shape is to create a safe space for women, where they will be comfortable not only in their bodies but also have a space to speak about the things that are problematic in society.
Shape has a group on Facebook called “Girl Talk by Shape,” where girls can talk about issues ranging from sexual well-being to marital problems.
Asked why Shape encourages disruptive conversations, Ayurani said she is trying to push the boundaries that will eventually expand the comfort zone for women, and break the bias too.
Her goal is to expand the comfort zone for women, it does not matter to her if it is by selling sanitary pads, bras or by providing them with therapy.
“Selling bras was just a starting point for me, I am not going to limit myself to just that,” she added. “We are also about changing the mindset. For instance, the fact that women can also buy condoms.”
“It is fun to watch daughters buying bras for their mothers. The narrative is changing, finally,” she further said.
Next, Shape wants to go global.
“We see a lot of international brands coming to Bangladesh, but we don’t see a lot of Bangladeshi brands going abroad, I want to do that.”