Can Shapewear Ever Be Feminist? Heist Certainly Thinks So

As a very effective writer, I decided to approach this piece in my usually intellectual, carefully considered manner. By that, I mean that I stood up at my desk and demanded that the Grazia team tell me their thoughts on shapewear, control pants – or whatever you want to call them. “I thought they’d be my answer to everything,” said Laura Jordan. “They were not. I had to remove them mid-wedding.” Not her wedding, you understand, which would have lent an even more tragic slant to that anecdote. Thus followed a slew of enthusiastic negativity, with my colleagues keen to inform me of their disdain for such products. And it’s probably true of most women; I know many of my friends have a Spanx story, usually involving a lack of oxygen, a need to go to the loo and a very small cubicle.

Aside from the physical comfort – or, indeed, lack thereof – is the issue of semantics. Shapewear is traditionally wrapped in a language of control, suppression and reduction. Its intention is to make the wearer smaller, and by implication, better. It is the age-old idea that women should adhere to one body type (slim) and that they should occupy less space. It has been presented, like most underwear, through the male gaze. Heist, however, is one brand looking to change that.

Heist, for anyone who doesn’t know, is the British brand that reinvented tights. I am not impartial in any way – I am obsessed with them. Unlike most tights (and I have tried so many), they don’t fall down or wrinkle and it’s very difficult to ladder them. Is ladder a verb? It is now. Anyway, having conquered tights, Heist now has its sights set firmly on underwear, having launched its first piece of shapewear last year. Now, it’s launching them in more colours, all designed by Fiona Fairhurst, VP Innovation and inventor of FASTSKIN, which is a full body swimsuit used by Olympic athletes. “I've brought technology from the world of elite athletes to the Superwoman of today which has resulted in functional, breathable and aesthetically beautiful garments that work with the body,” says Fairhurst. “We launched shapewear in November 2018, because innovation in this category was so lacking, and created garments that shape your waist in total comfort thanks to the HeroPanels. The HeroPanels work by mimicking the body's natural support system – the fascia – and this is industry-first innovation in shapewear.”

Heist’s shapewear comes in two forms at the moment – The Outer Body (which looks like a leotard) and The High Waist knickers. I have tried both and can personally attest to the fact that neither made me feel like I’m wearing shapewear – it just felt like more supportive underwear. I felt that my posture improved, and I generally felt more held together, as it were. And it’s this, rather than the concept of control or thinness that Fairhurst is keen to emphasise. “Heist exists to serve women by making them feel seen, heard and included with underwear that actually works. We know that women dress for themselves so we're about making them feel good. What we’ve done is create shapewear that does not conform to unrealistic, unnatural ideals – ours is shapewear that smooths and supports with the wearer in mind.”

The brand was founded in 2015 by Toby Darbyshire, following the realisation that existing products in the women’s underwear market just didn’t work. Is it ironic that a man established such a brand for women? Yes. But the brand has genuinely been working to change the way in which underwear is marketed to women. It has also relied on feedback from customers to shape its products, ensuring that they really do work in the way people want them to. “We exist to create products that women want and need,” says Fairhurst. “If we don’t listen we have failed, and we listen to feedback at every step of the development process. We created our shapewear by applying feedback from 1,025 women, who we asked what they wanted to change about shapewear. For us, the innovation process continues even after we have launched a product to ensure we continually deliver the best product experience for our customers. For example, we worked to adjust the leg line of The Outer Body for a closer fit following customer feedback.”

It seems baffling that, for something that is worn every day, underwear has experienced limited innovation over the years. Why does Fairhurst think this is? “Women’s underwear design has evolved slowly over time and been heavily influenced by social changes, modesty, fashion, materials and technology. For example, we’ve had what I call "squash and squeeze" products designed for the gaze of others. The change that’s happening now is about not conforming, it's about accepting and providing women with underwear that works whatever shape and size we are. It's a shame that it’s taken so long, but it’s great to see women taking control and having much more available to them in terms of choice.”

With brands like Savage x Fenty harnessing the power of inclusivity and removing the male gaze completely from lingerie, it feels like we’re finally moving in the right direction. Perhaps part of that shift is the rise of women designing such products for women – Fairhurst included – who actually understand how a product needs to perform. “Women are not static,” says Fairhurst. “We are incredibly dynamic and require underwear that works with us.” During her tenure at Heist, Fairhurst has built an in-house innovation team under the name of Lab12, which she cites as her proudest achievement to date at the company. As well as developing more innovative products, Lab12 is leading the production of “zero impact” products, as Heist works to form its sustainability goals. “These goals go beyond product and will outline how we operate ethically as a business,” says Fairhurst. “We are working based on real science and technology which will take some time, but we have also taken immediate steps such as creating high quality garments that do not fall under "fast fashion" which are washed at low temperatures, and enforcing the use of recyclable and renewable packaging materials. It's the greatest challenge we face but we're on it.”

As a British start-up, Heist’s commitment to innovation and engineering, in a space that has for too long been ignored in this way, is admirable to say the least. The debate about whether shapewear is anti-feminist could rage on for eternity, but whatever your stance, it’s clear that Heist is at least looking to change the conversation around the subject. The brand’s shapewear is not about how you look to others, it’s about how you feel. As Fairhurst says, “We have an ongoing commitment to bettering all of women's underwear. 2020 is the year we take on the bra.” Watch this space.

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