ThirdLove, the intimates company made famous for inventing half-cup bra sizes, has opened up shops in San Francisco, Walnut Creek, Los Angeles and Newport Beach.
When it comes to fit, ThirdLove believes in a lengthy research-and-development phase and a lot of testing. “Our biggest differentiator is how we fit on different sizes. We have about a dozen women coming in once a week, sometimes twice a week and we do fittings on all of the women,” shares Cohen. “Then they take bras home, actually put them through the paces and then report back on the findings. We go and sweat and then we wash them in our washing machine.
Next on the itinerary: their new sports bra, the kinetic. This bra has been in development for two years. “What's wrong with every sports bra that's out there?” asks Cohen. “Boob sweat. I don't know about you, but the boob sweat is a real thing.” Preach.“You can't get it off after you work out or it's so compressive that you can't breathe or it's not compressive enough. This bra addresses all of that.
As a plus-size customer, I wanted to know about fit technology. Currently ThirdLove offers bras in 65 sizes, from 32AA through 44H. Cohen says that the brand strives to have every product look the same on every person regardless of size, but this doesn’t mean every garment is constructed the same way. “Something that the design team is focused on is really maintaining the same aesthetic through the entire size range.
As my tour sadly comes to an end, Zak and Cohen share that the ThirdLove philosophy is looking at the problems women have with their bra, and fixing those problems for a wide spectrum of bodies. “I just think that's what ThirdLove's hat trick is,” says Cohen. “What makes us special is that we take something that used to be only for a few and make it for as many people as possible.”