Heist unveils its innovative underwear collection, The Outer Body

Having shaken up the hosiery market with its technology-led sag-free, seam-free tights, Heist has now unveiled its innovative new underwear collection The Outer Body.

The move into the underwear sector follows the appointment of Fiona Fairhurst, the inventor of the revolutionary, multi-gold-medal-winning FastSkin swimsuit, as VP Innovation earlier this year.

Fairhurst applied Heist technology to create a line of shapewear that "moves with the body, rather than against it". It uses revolutionary biomimetic film technology to mirror the body’s own support system (existing shapewear uses elastomeric fabric that applies equal pressure around its circumference).

The result, says Heist, is shapewear that contours the stomach, "without placing redundant - and deeply uncomfortable - pressure on the groin and spine".

The Outer Body design replaces layers of constrictive fabric with laser-perforated, ultrasonically-bonded panels, that allow a varied thickness of material to create strategically-placed zones of higher compression, while promoting breathability and eliminating bulky seams.

Fiona Fairhurst VP Innovation Heist

Given the fact the it applies pressure only when it's needed, the normal struggle to fit into shapewear is eliminated. To emphasise this point the company recently ran a teaser campaign – entitled #NOTHANX – which asked a group 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 was Australian Instagram phenomenon Celeste Barber who is famous for her parodies of celebrities.

Fairhurst said of the launch: "We wanted to give women freedom by giving them something better. While intimate apparel is the fastest growing market within apparel - with the shapewear market expected to reach $5.6 billion by 2022 (5% of the global lingerie market) - there is very little catering to the comfort of women."

"We asked 1,025 women who wear shapewear what they actually wanted from the product, and this disillusioned and dissatisfied group told us: no squeezing, sweating, or struggling into something that’s not worth it."

Toby Darbyshire, Co-founder and CEO, Heist

Heist co-founder and CEO Toby Darbyshire explained that, as with all Heist products, feedback and data from women was a crucial part of the product development process.

"We asked 1,025 women who wear shapewear what they actually wanted from the product, and this disillusioned and dissatisfied group told us: no squeezing, sweating, or struggling into something that’s not worth it. So, we applied high-performing technology to our bodysuit from top to bottom

"We set out on a mission to change the future of underwear and started with tights to prove a point - that women’s bodywear has been neglected, overlooking an important scientific and technological focus that it deserves. With this new launch, we have applied our philosophy of innovation and expert knowledge of the anatomy to a very specific product that has been crying out for an overhaul," Darbyshire said.

Heist was founded in 2015 and has secured backing from a number of high-profile investors including including Net-A-Porter founder, Natalie Massenet, Bella Freud and Alexachung investor Pembroke VCT, and the founders of the Innocent Drinks company.