Where This Creative Director Buys Lingerie on University Place

New York City has more stores than anyone could physically tackle, but somehow we always keep returning to the usual suspects. To break out of the rut, we’ve asked some local shopping and fashion gurus to provide their hidden retail gems—those unique stores around our fantastic city that we might not all know about. Cue the Beatles: We’re about to get a little help from our friends.

Image via Yelp

Rebecca Szymczak is a 29-year-old creative director who lives in Chelsea. She’s lent her skills to brands like Nike and DKNY, and has led the global licensing design team at Playboy. She also has her own lingerie brand called BEXnyc. When she needs to scope out the latest trends in intimates, she makes sure to check out La Petite Coquette in Greenwich Village.

My favorite neighborhood boutique is La Petite Coquette on University Place. They have an eclectic mix of lingerie, sleepwear, loungewear and hosiery. The store’s owner, Rebecca Aspen, who has been regarded as “the best bra fitter in the country” by New York Magazine and Lucky, is also an incredible hostess. In addition to helping you find the perfect fit, she’ll make you a cup of espresso and fill you in on the latest trends while you shop. I particularly love their hosiery and have several pairs of Wolford tights as well as their gifting items, like the Breakfast at Tiffany’s satin eye mask. The combinations of luxurious, modern silhouettes that infuse vintage influences are beautiful and addictive!

· La Petite Coquette [Official Site]
· Rebecca Szymczak [Official Site]
· All Shopping Confidential Posts [Racked NY]

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Triumph Lingerie Gets Oeko-Tex’s Eco-Friendly Seal of Approval

Photo by Jasmin Malik Chua for Ecouterre

One of the world’s largest producers of lingerie, underwear, and loungewear is finally giving Ma Earth the support she deserves. Triumph International announced Thursday that its entire catalogue of underpinnings is certified free of more than 300 harmful substances—including pesticides, extractable heavy metals, formaldehyde, carcinogenic dyestuffs, and residual surfactants—under Oeko-Tex’s uncompromising textile-production standards. The Switzerland-based company, which owns the Triumph, Sloggi, Valisère, and Hom brands, along with BeeDees in Germany, applied the certifying body’s social and ecological tenets across its entire supply chain, from product development to packaging.

UPLIFTING NEWS

This additional layer of product safety is vital because underwear comes in direct contact with the skin, according to Hans-Peter Grosch, senior department head raw material management at Triumph. “Precisely in the sensitive product area of lingerie, underwear, sleepwear, and swimwear, which is always worn next to the skin and usually for many hours, it is important that harmful ingredients are consistently excluded from the outset,” he says.

The entire Triumph range now complies with with the social and ecological requirements of Okeo-Tex Standard 100.

In 2009, Triumph launched “EcoChic by Triumph,” a rotating lineup of bras, panties, and camisoles made from sustainable materials such as certified-organic cotton, bamboo, and corn, as well as nontoxic, plant-based dyes. Described by the firm as “skin-friendly and extremely comfortable to wear,” the collection is designed to reduce—or even eliminate—skin allergies and reactions.

The company, which employees 18,000 garment workers in Austria, Hungary, Portugal, Morocco, Vietnam, Thailand, India, China, Brazil, says it maintains a vigorous program to ensure humane working conditions at its production plants, which are regularly inspected through third-part audits.

“As a global company we must act responsibly towards our environment, our employees and our customers as this is the only way that we can leave something behind that we are proud of for the next generations,” says Ursula von Gunten, Triumph’s manager of corporate social responsibility.

Our cups runneth over.

+ EcoChic by Triumph

+ Oeko-Tex

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