Ironically, I was doing a brief for a pregnancy company in London about hot products from around the world and I just so happened to mention that Kiwi maternity lingerie company, Hot Milk (http://www.hotmilklingerie.co.nz/), was the only way for pregnant mums to save their chests from nine months of sheer boredom. For those in the know, Hot Milk is hot these days and the sexy but completely functional designs are by far the most desirable underthings a preggo could ever want (and in a range of sizes that do not begin and end with XS). The ‘Cherry Bomb Chic’ bra and matching microfibre French knickers are so amazing you would want to get pregnant just so you could wear them.
Anyway, back to my point. One of my secret sources sent me an article this morning explaining that the ladies of Hot Milk have been accused of pedaling 'soft porn' in their latest catalogue as beautiful pregnant bellies dazzle the glossy pages in black satin and bows, looking all feminista and fabulous. Apparently, online store Breastmates sent out the new catalogue to their database of women in New Zealand, many of whom complained of 'explicit' images tarnishing their pristine in-boxes.
I find this so fascinating. Everyone in the media (and I'm guilty of it myself) rants about how fantastic it is that pregnant women can show off their bellies proudly, that celebrities can accessorise with a baby bump instead of a Balenciaga, that because of Demi Moore and her infamous naked pregnant photo shoot, doing a 'Demi' on a magazine cover is like Starbucks in America. And yet, a few pregnant women in bras celebrating their bodies are branded as porn? Did I mention that Demi and Britney and recently, Mylene Klass, were NAKED on the covers of magazines and everyone gave them three cheers?
People are strange. If anything, I hope that Hot Milk gets a boatload of publicity and in turn, sells more bras.
Full article:
4 comments:
Um, they only go up to an F cup. I'm already up to a G and only 13 weeks pregnant.
Perhaps Australian sizing is different? Because an F cup is nothing to get excited about. And I was hoping to get excited.
Hi everyone, Lisa here from HOTmilk! I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who is supporting us, which can I say is like 99% of the world!
The feedback we are getting is amazing and we are so proud of what we are doing and how our lingerie is making mums feel.
thank you again,
Lisa
Hi Its Frances here from Breastmates. Its my newsletter that I emailed to customers that caused all this controversy. Naughty naughty! I just wanted to let them all know about the new products i was stocking and then all of a sudden 3 people complained and i was accused of cluttering up their inbox with soft porn, sending inappropriate images, using explicit images to advertise products!!! HOLY!! Such strong comments huh!
I was just notifying customers of this beautiful lingerie that I am now selling online through my www.breastmates.co.nz website . Yes members had all requested subscription to my newsletter and i was certainly not spamming them. Strangely these were my target audience of pregnant and breastfeeding mothers that were upset. I’ve set up my breastmates business to provide quality products for mothers during the breastfeeding time of their life.
Well the response from everyone else has been wonderful.
I hope the people who complained have seen all the media attention their comments got! hahah
What surprises me is that lingerie for pregnant women comes under attack for being soft porn - FFS take a look at all lingerie marketing. It is all soft porn! And marketing for most products these days usually borrows imagery from pornography.
The fact that pregnancy lingerie cops this criticism suggests to me that it is specifically pregnant bodies that are causing the offense, not the marketing, not the lingerie.
Once again we are reminded of that woman-hating attitude that pregnancy is something that should not be seen.
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