Heist takes aim at the shapewear market with #NOTHANX campaign

Having shaken up the hosiery market with its seam free, sag free tights, innovative start-up Heist Studios is now moving into bodywear and is teasing the arrival of its new range later this month with the hilarious #NOTHANX campaign.

The direct-to-consumer brand asked a series of comedians to offer their thoughts on shapewear with an accompanying video showing them struggling to get into a range of oppressive looking garments. Star of the campaign is Australian Instagram phenomenon Celeste Barber who is famous for her parodies of celebrities.

Other figures featured in the campaign include Jessica Fostekew (@jessicafostekew), Jessie Cave (@jessiecave) and Samantha Baines (@samanthabaines), plus Vogue columnist and Instagram funny guy Raven Smith (@raven__smith).

The point of the video is to highlight how tricky it can be to even get into some shapewear and how uncomfortable it can be to wear once you do get it on. The video ends with Barber declaring she won't be going out to dinner in her control underwear and she "can't breathe".

As with its tights, Heist is promising a much more comfortable and wearer-friendly approach to its shapewear, which launches on 15 November. A waiting list is open now for customers who want to be the first to get hold of the product which promises to "remove the struggle, sweat and squeezing typically associated with shapewear".

It has enlisted performance-wear innovator Fiona Fairhurst - the inventor of the revolutionary, multi-gold-medal-winning SharkSkin swimsuit - to design its product and claims it has used technology that has never previously been used in underwear before.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpUOUqehQr-/?taken-by=heiststudios

The brand has already caused controversy with the launch posting an image on Instagram showing bra marks left on a woman's body with the nipples exposed. The image, by Scout Paré Phillips, was eventually banned by Instagram and re-uploaded with emojis covering the nipples.

Heist has raised $8.1m in funding so far and its backers include Firstminute Capital, JamJar, Pembroke VCT and Dame Natalie Massenet's Imaginary Ventures. The business recently made its first move into physical retail with a store in London's Seven Dials.