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Lingerie for the Woman Who Wants to Feel Sexy & Powerful |
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She explains, “The name Dandylion was the name of my final collection at
university. It represented two sides, dandy and elegant and then the
lion, more alternative, powerful and a woman who can do whatever she
wants.
I want my designs to make the woman (who wears them) feel powerful. In a
way I am fighting for women’s rights. I have talked to a lot of women
and doctors who told me there are plenty of women that when they arrive
at home, they take off their bras and corsets. The doctors also told me
that wire bras cause plenty of problems for women in (contributing to)
breast cancer. Now doctors recommend that bras without wire be used,
because the pressure caused by the wire on the breasts increasing the
chances of cancer. I didn’t know this until two years ago and I went
wow!
Women who have had cancer can no longer wear wire bras, so that is why I
designed a type of bra that doesn’t have wire.
People can ask for the wire bra, but it is not something I (regularly)
produce.
I asked one young client why she wanted to wear a wire bra. She said,
because she felt better. I said to her do you know about the problems
that may happen when you are older from wearing a wire bra? After I told
her, she did not buy the wire bra. I lost an opportunity for a sale, but
that was not so important to me, because for me when I sell to a woman,
she has to know what she is buying.”
“There are three styles of bras depending on the woman’s breasts. For
instance, if you have big breasts and you don’t want to have a wire bra,
because not every woman can use a wire bra (and she does not recommend
them). A woman with bigger breasts, the breasts weigh more than a woman
with smaller ones, so the design is different for each woman,” she says
adding the same holds true for swimwear.
For panties and swimwear bottoms she says, “want to sell just S-M-L. My
S is not straightaway 34. I use 34 – 36 to have a little better range
for the average woman. For example, I have 34 for one brand and 36 for
another one, depending on the structure of the bra and panties. My S is
for a woman who does not want a tight fit and a woman who does not want
to be really low.”
As for the type of woman who is a typical customer of Dandylion, Beatriz
Lechuga Fuentes says, “She is a contemporary woman, and she combines
family and work. She works from eight to five and then she goes home to
a family with kids, but she also has time with her partner. She is an
independent woman who wants to feel sexy and powerful. It doesn’t matter
if you are big or small or tall or short.”
The ongoing
challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic since the winter of 2020
impacted the way thatBeatriz
Lechuga Fuentes
conducted her
business.
“When we all had to stay home, and the shops were closed everyone was
buying from the internet. Now that everything is open people want to go
to the stores. Nowadays even though we have been through a pandemic,
people like to go to the shops, try maybe ten bras and buy one or they
may not buy anything.
For me it is really difficult to sell online, because with a bra you
have to be really conscious about what you are buying. For instance,
when women are buying a bra from me sometimes, they will say to me, I am
not sure if I am a S or a M. Normally with bras, sizes are in letters
and numbers. I will ask what size of bra do you normally wear? I will
then say, for this type of bra I recommend this size. For a bra with
elastic that fits tighter, I recommend a bigger size. It is also very
important to put on your website or where you are selling an explanation
about the size chart and how you can measure your body for certain
brands. I have a page on my website where there is a mannequin and you
can measure for your upper bra and lower bra, because some women don’t
know where to measure. I think the more information you give to the
customer it makes it easier. I think buying bras online is complicated,
but we are trying a little bit more.
I like to have the feedback of women who want to buy bras, so I can help
them decide (what bra to buy). I can also explain that I am producing
the bra for your body. For instance, if women have a (mastectomy) for
one breast and not the other one, I think it is really important to have
a (conversation) with the women. Women who study design and
patternmaking we know how to make a garment, so the woman can feel like
a woman.
I have talked to women who have had breast cancer and sometimes they
tell me that now they do not feel like they are a beautiful woman and I
try to (convey) to them that it doesn’t matter what you have, it is what
you feel with my bras. That is why I use lace, because I think it is an
elegant and sexy fabric for breasts. If I used another fabric with a
graphic design to me, it doesn’t represent the same idea.”
This perspective reflects some of the values and goals that Beatriz
Lechuga Fuentes considers to be most important, “I hope once again to
have my own small store and an area of the store to help women decide
what type of bra is best for them. I also want to focus on women who are
not comfortable with their bodies (as well as) women who are breast
cancer survivors. I want to work with doctors to show women that after
an operation, they can still feel like a woman. I want to have sexy bras
for them.
I am not looking to have a really big brand like Inditex or H&M, but I
still want to be a known brand around the world. I do not want to do
that in a massive way, because then I will lose my perspective and my
(intention) to help women.” As for the materials and colors that she likes to work with Beatriz Lechuga Fuentes says, “For lingerie I like to work with black lace. Lace is the basic fabric that I use. Black is an important color for me to use with lingerie, because black is the more elegant color. You feel sexy and elegant. Normally everyone feels comfortable with black, and it doesn’t matter if you are a big size or a small size.
For swimwear I like the fabric lycra, but lycra that is recycled. I like
more neutral colors, but at least one or two are with more powerful
colors, like neon colors.”
Having a career in
the fashion world never seemed to be a question of if for
Beatriz Lechuga
Fuentes
but when.
“My grandfather was a really important fashion designer in Chile and
when my family moved to Spain, we had a clothing repair shop. Not all of
my family knows how to sew, but I have been on the machines since I was
little. I went with my grandfather to his stores, when I was eight years
old, and I put my nose into everything and tried to fix clothes on the
machines. I would go with my grandfather in the afternoon, and I started
to learn how you could fix clothes and how to design in small ways.
That is how I started in the
fashion world.
I was sixteen years old when I knew I wanted to work in the fashion
world, and I started to sew by myself. I failed one course in high
school, and I decided to work with my mom that summer. I started fixing
my clothes. I had time to look for something more interesting than
repairing clothes. When someone would want to have their pants
shortened, I would take the small pieces (that were leftover) and I
transformed them into pencil cases. I started doing pencil cases for my
friends at school. I sewed one end and on the other end I put a zipper.
Here in Spain, there are a few brands that sell garments for parties and
for weddings, but I never found a brand that fit my style. I am very
tiny and thin, and I had a lot of problems finding clothes, so I started
designing and producing some dresses. They were for weddings and here in
Spain when you are eighteen years old you have a big party and I started
designing evening gowns.”
Her desire to have a career in fashion took Beatriz Lechuga Fuentes to
two other iconic cities of fashion, Milan, Italy and London, England
where she studied.
“I decided to study fashion and it was not because I liked drawing and
designing, but it was because my parents wanted me to have a career.
There was not a sewing or patternmaking career, there was only fashion
design career.
I did two years in Barcelona and the third year I did in Milan. The
first year was in Barcelona, the second year in Milan and the third year
I finished in Barcelona. I was in London two years ago. I studied in
three of the main countries (for fashion).
“Barcelona is considered a fashion city because there are plenty of
people from all around the world with so many customs and religions that
live in the same city. In Barcelona it doesn’t matter where you come
from, but it is who you are. In Madrid for instance, they also look at
who you are.
I am influenced more from where I came from. I come from a South
American family and from Spain. I see fashion differently from other
people. Coming from Chile, a country that has so many difficulties when
you are growing up. I look more at the quality and a well-done product
other than fast fashion. I like to control the production step by step.
That is why with my brand I produce everything myself.
I was born in Spain. My mother is from Chile and that is where the
fashion traditions come from.”
Why lingerie and swimwear?
“I studied patternmaking and then I started sewing wedding gowns,
dresses for weddings. My cousin told me she was having trouble finding
lingerie that she liked. I said let me try to do something for you. She
liked it, so I decided to try designing lingerie too. In Spain it is not
so common (to find) lingerie designers. I decided to go to London to
study lingerie and swimwear at London College of Fashion, University of
the Arts London. In studying lingerie and swimwear, they more or less covered the same patterns, styles, and the way it was (taught). In Spain there are some other brands of swimwear, but I make to the measurements of the woman. My collection may be a size S-M-L, but someone might contact me and say I am a XL, and I will produce that for them. Not only do I have my own collection, but I produce what my customers ask of me. Part of my collection is made to measure. Please
visit the website for Dandylion by Beatriz Lechuga.
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Dandylion,
the joining together of two words by swimwear and lingerie fashion
designer Beatriz Lechuga Fuentes from Barcelona, Spain, represents both
the name of her brand and the image she wants to project. 