One of Victoria's Secret's main competitors just launched a new weapon in the lingerie wars
AdoreMe
Lingerie startup Adore Me just launched a new weapon in the lingerie wars — plus-size bralettes.
Bralettes, of course, are those super trendy padding-free, wireless bras that pretty much all lingerie brands are selling these days.
But while plus-size bralettes do exist, good ones can be tough to find. After all, plus-size bras need to be carefully constructed to give adequate support.
"It's not possible to have a flimsy laced-triangle bralette in a J-Cup," Cora Harrington, the lingerie expert behind the popular blog The Lingerie Addict, told Business Insider earlier this year.
Adore Me says that it has spent 10 months developing the bras that are lined with power mesh, have wide straps, and feature a lace design that helps provide necessary support. They go up to size 4XL.
AdoreMe
Adore Me's plus-size bralette is the latest thing the company is pushing to differentiate itself from the lingerie giant Victoria's Secret, which doesn't sell plus-size lingerie.
While Victoria's Secret's models are generally thin and sometimes Photoshopped, Adore Me has highlighted its plus-size collection and its ads feature curvy models.
"We as a brand are reinventing the approach to fashion," Adore Me's CEO Morgan Hermand-Waiche said to Business Insider in December. "We want to be the brand that stands for everyone, and everyone means every wallet, every style, and every size."
AdoreMe
The plus-size industry is a multi-billion dollar opportunity for retailers that's only getting bigger. Adore Me, which has explicitly said it wants to "slay Victoria's Secret," is trying to take advantage of the growing market.
But the upstart lingerie brand is still just a blip on Victoria's Secret's radar. Victoria's Secret posted nearly $7.7 billion in total sales in fiscal 2015, while Adore Me's total revenue for 2015 was just $42.7 million.