A little update on the hardest product I’ve ever developed

Hey lovely,

I wanted to give you guys a little update on the bra. You know the one.

If you follow us on socials, you’ve probably seen the ridiculous amount of fit models we’ve had coming through the DTL office over the last couple of years testing and sampling our new underwire sports bra. I think we’re officially onto our ninth different fit model now.

And I can confidently say this is the hardest product I have ever developed. Ever.

We’ve officially passed two years of development, which is kind of insane to even write. But this isn’t a bra we’re taking off the shelf, changing a few things and putting a DTL label on. It’s a completely new design, and we’re trying to create something I genuinely haven’t been able to find anywhere else.

Which is incredibly exciting. But also makes developing it VERY difficult. And that was actually one of the biggest reasons I went to China in July.

I knew what I wanted this bra to do. I could see it in my head. I knew the construction I wanted. I knew how I wanted it to fit and support. But trying to communicate something that doesn’t really exist yet from Australia, through drawings, tech packs, photos, videos and messages, is HARD.

So I needed to physically be there.

And it ended up being one of the most incredible product development experiences I’ve ever had.

We got to the factory at around 8 am and didn’t leave until about 6:30 pm. It was basically 10+ hours of absolute chaos 😂

At one point there were about six of us crammed into the sample room — me, our garment tech, Carl who looks after DTL at our manufacturer, the sourcing team working on our fabrics, trims and components, plus the sample machinists.

Everyone is speaking Chinese. I speak exactly one word of Chinese: xiexie 😂

So Carl is translating. I’m using Google Translate on my phone. I’m physically showing them what I’m trying to achieve. And then the scissors came out. We were literally cutting up bras, combining different pieces, pinning things together, creating openings, changing straps and adjustability, testing different construction methods and basically Frankensteining bras together until what had been sitting in my head started becoming a physical thing we could actually see and test.

Then we’d run over to the overlocker. Sew something. Put it on. Nope. Cut it apart again. Back to the sewing machine. Pin something somewhere else.

Try it again. Our garment tech would jump in. Then the sourcing team would come back with another option. Then we’d change something else. It was honestly manic 😂

But being able to make a change, physically see what happened, explain why it wasn’t working and immediately try another solution was something we just couldn’t replicate over messages from Australia. And we had some MASSIVE unlocks that day.

I left China feeling like we had finally cracked the hardest parts of this design.

We’re now at the stage of finalising some of the most important components, including the underwire itself.

Originally we were hoping to use a flexible wire, but when you’re designing all the way through to a J cup, “good enough” isn’t good enough. It needs to actually support you.

So we’ve had to go down the path of developing custom underwires. And because the sizes we need aren’t just sitting there ready for us to buy, they have to be custom-made. We’re talking minimums of around 5,000 pairs of underwires PER SIZE.

Before we’ve even made the actual bra.

This bra is going to come in around 36 different sizes, because one of the biggest things I’ve learnt throughout this entire process is that you cannot simply scale a bra up and expect it to work on completely different bodies and cup sizes. That’s why you’ve seen so many different women coming into our office.

Different bodies. Different bust shapes. Different cup sizes. Different proportions. Fit. Adjust. Resample. Fit again. Over and over and over again.

The investment in this bra — financially, mentally, in development time, sampling, fit models, custom components and resources — is easily the biggest investment I’ve ever made into a single DTL product. There have definitely been moments where I’ve thought, WHY did I decide to do this. But I also know why.

Because if we get this right, I genuinely believe it will be a game-changer. And I don’t want to launch something just because we’ve already spent two years working on it.

I want to launch it when I can confidently say: This is the bra I set out to make.

I know so many of you have been messaging asking when it’s coming, so I wanted to give you a proper update rather than just saying “it’s coming.” Trust me, I am trying. We’re getting closer. For the first time in this very, very, very long development process, I can actually see the finish line. I’m also now entering the stage where I’m mildly terrified a giant brand with a giant development budget is going to see it and copy us once we launch.

So maybe I need to stop telling you guys things. For now, that’s the update.

Two+ years. Nine fit models. More samples than I want to count. A slightly unhinged 10-hour development session in China. And a LOT of money in custom components.

All for one bra.

I really, really hope when you finally put it on, you understand why we refused to rush it.

I’ll keep you guys updated as we get closer.

Rhi xx

Founder, DTL