A Taxonomy of Mysterious Lingerie Brands
No matter where you are—a Zone D’Erotica in Houston or Midtown’s A&J Lingerie run by a very charming grandmother—there’s a sex shop stocked with the blacks, reds, and pinks of René Rofé or Pink Lipstick lingerie boxes. The packaging and names of these see-through bodystockings and neon mesh minidresses enchant me. Who, for instance, is Leg Avenue? Who thought to turn a moment into an Elegant Moment?
Below, a running taxonomy of mysterious lingerie brands. This will be updated!
René Rofé Lingerie Division was founded in 1986 by René Rofé and is owned by International Intimates Inc. located on Madison Avenue in New York. In 2015, they debuted a collaboration with Cocolicious, a line by Coco of Coco and Ice T fame.
In an interview with Body magazine, Rofé explained that he is a man of the people.
“I am not interested in being the richest man in the cemetery,” concluded Rofé. Looking back, he said, “the biggest mistake I made is that I was never one to go over the buyers’ heads. As such, my relationships have always been with the people closest to the merchandise as opposed to top management. You think that I can pick up the phone and get whoever it is on line at some major stores?” He asked in a tone that clearly indicated he does not have this ability.
“Whatever your fantasy…we take you further” is Dreamgirl’s motto. A luscious name, Dreamgirl International has been making lingerie for 30 years in Bell Gardens, California. Patricia Field, who had previously worked at Playgirl magazine started the business with the name Lovin’ Enterprises as a home party business. According to Mcpetesez.com, in 1986 Fischer debuted the company’s first lingerie line: Dreamgirl.
J Valentine is lingerie for ravers and burners. Matthew Valentine, CEO of the company, says that his mom founded the business in 1994 to support her family. In spite of not having formal design or business training, she taught herself to design and sew, selling to friends and growing from there.
In 2012, Huffington Post found that the “sexy Halloween empire” of Leg Avenue was owned by a Taiwanese family and the wife of 77-year-old CEO Hung-Chan Tsai cooked Taiwanese lunches for the company’s employees each day.
The Tsai family first started importing low-priced wares from China in 1984, and the two daughters, Melody and Amy, started embellishing hosiery with zippers and other accents. Leg Avenue, a name both sexy and pedestrian, came from Amy. “I like to shop at Saks Fifth Avenue and I had bad grammar,” she said with a laugh. “Leg should have been two legs.”
And we can credit Leg Avenue with sexy versions of children’s characters. Tony Bianchi, owner of New York City’s Halloween Adventure, said the company was “definitely the first to take characters like that and make them sexy. Now it’s so popular I don’t know where we’ll go next.”
Not much could be found about the lingerie wholesaler from Blakely, Pennsylvania. But we do know they were founded in 1983, and they can be found everywhere from Yandy to My Stripper Closet.
Pink Lipstick is a bottle of Cîroc with a lollipop for dessert. They are, according to their about page, the “nonstop party wardrobe for the 21st century”,—a tall order that they oblige. They are owned by a Colorado trading company, Eldorado, that specializes in wholesale pleasure. You can participate in their model search here.
