Life Takes Detours

Success and Failure

by Jerry Feinman

Over the past several months I have heard many stories of individual’s successes in their field of endeavor, but few of failure.Somewhere in the past I am sure some wise philosopher must have written or uttered the phrase, “Success cannot truly be appreciated unless one has experienced failure." Should this not be the case, I accept full credit for these pearls of wisdom and would like it to be so archived.

In a previous chapter, I described in detail how I found my way into the foundation industry. It is sometimes referred to as the bra industry, so as not to be confused with foundations of buildings, houses and the like, although a thorough understanding of construction principles is helpful in achieving success in both these industries. I only have to point out that the first engineered bra was designed by Howard Hughes for Jane Russell in the movie, “The Outlaw” and his engineering and business skills were world renown in the fields of aerodynamics and tool & die making.

I cannot claim any great achievements for my industry such as ending a war, saving lives, or breakthroughs in medicine or communications. Although we did achieve fame in the 60s for helping the “Burn the Bra Movement." If the comfort and enhancement of the female figure can be considered an award meriting achievement, then we truly deserved some sort of statuette.

In our industry success was measured by sales, failure, by the lack of them. The marketplace was the sole judge and jury.

The design concept for a bra was two-fold-- function and style. It took a team composed of designer, model, industrial engineer, manufacturing executive and mechanical engineer to produce a garment that served so unique a function that the consumer felt they had to have it.

When designed solely for style, the motivation of design was to exude sex appeal. This garment was going to be seen through a sheer blouse or nothing at all. It had to make the consumer feel the equal in seductive power of a Marilyn Monroe.

In the fifty years I had my hands in bras ---- that doesn’t sound quite right. For the fifty years I had been employed in the bra industry, I had been very fortunate, at times unfortunate, to be involved with almost every new concept introduced into our area of the fashion industry.

Fate was kind to me. During my early employment at Peter Pan Inc., I was involved in the development of the first bra with foam rubber being a part of the bra and not just an added pad. Months were spent with a company that supplied foam rubber to the automobile industry; the challenge being to develop a foam rubber that could be supplied in a thickness of 1/8, 1/4 and 3/8 inches and a width of 42 inches that could stand up to the heat of lamination, the sewing machine and the power of a home washing machine.

The final garment was of plain cotton with few frills. Sales appeal was based strictly on function and the silhouette it produced. It was so successful that the sales force was informed that a 3 month delivery had to be quoted. The aura of success engulfed the annual Christmas Party, bonus checks were distributed, raises given and the future looked great.

We introduced the concept into strapless bras and produced underwire and overwire styles; it made little difference in that both were extremely successful. All our foam rubber garments were given the name ”Hidden Treasure” ; we liked to think it became as generic as Kleenex.

In our effort to maintain our reputation for innovation, we ventured into a completely different concept for strapless bras. Our research told us that most women complained of wires poking into their ribs or chest and although the bra served its intended function, it caused discomfort.

With this in mind, we set out to design a strapless bra without the industry standard “U” wire with sharp ends, while maintaining shape and support. The idea of two “O” shaped wires connected by a “C” center wire to exert a spring like reverse pressure on the sides of the garment was decided upon.

Without going into the complex design, I will point out that thousands of dollars were spent on research with wire manufactures to arrive at the right strength, width and flexibility without adding excessive weight. Special sewing machine attachments were engineered and added, all at great expense.

Finally the finished product was launched under the name “Freedom Ring”. Initial sales were good but resales were poor and eventually returns almost equaled shipments. Reports told us that the garment was too cumbersome and uncomfortable. To make matters worse, we received a lawyer’s letter with the threat of a lawsuit due to extreme embarrassment to his client. The details, as we learned, were that while at the theater, her boyfriend either intentionally or inadvertently opened the back hook and eyes. Due to the spring action, the bra flew out from under her lowcut blouse, hitting the person in front.  Thus, with the snap of two fingers, the concept of “Freedom Ring” tolled for the last time.

Note: At that year’s annual Christmas Party, ties were given out.

We did rebound combining two new fabric concepts. Peter Pan was the first to introduce “Fiberfill” as a substitute for foam rubber as padding for bras. Composed of spun nylon fibers, it was light, soft and had a pleasant feel. Since most of our garments were manufactured in Caribbean countries, the use of fiberfill reduced the percentage of cotton we imported and we were less affected by quota restrictions.

When we coupled this with the introduction of elastic shoulder straps to replace those made with rigid cloth, sales once again soared.

Note: At this year’s annual Christmas Party bonuses were happily distributed.

Our success was short-lived. The prospect of a seamless bra was on the horizon and all major bra companies wanted to be first. The intended result would be a smooth silhouette without a seam line protruding underneath a dress or blouse. In our effort to be first, we introduced two styles composed of specially treated molded stretch nylon lace. Molds for each size were machined and when the fabric was placed under the press using proper temper and pressure, the result was a seamless bra onto which lace edging and closures were sewn; the result- a perfectly sized molded seamless bra.

Unfortunately the treatment for the lace was faulty and when combined with varying degrees of body heat, the fabric turned yellow. High initial sales were followed by a high volume of returns. Thousands of dollars of development costs were lost and our market reputation severely damaged.

Note: No Christmas party that year.

I recall one product success in particular because many hours of my personal time were spent on wear testing. This was a spandex girdle, which we labeled “Little X”. Elastic strips, ¾ inch in width, were crisscrossed across the front forming an X for maximum control. We gave samples to our female employees to wear and report back on function and comfort. Many complained of a rash on the tummy after wearing. To solve this problem, I wore one garment (X-large) for a few days and discovered the problem was the monofilament thread being used. If a bobbin ran out in the middle of a strip, the start of a new bobbin left a sharp point which, although hard to see, was readily felt. We switched to a strong cotton multifilament thread and all the rashes disappeared. Many varying styles of this X theme were marketed very successfully.

Note: Christmas Party but very small bonuses.

I tell the next success story only for the fact that its success was greatly due to its psychological appeal. After joining Teenform Inc., I was involved in the development, styling and marketing of a preteen training bra. This garment had no figure enhancing properties, nor did it possess any fashionable merit. Its sole purpose was to enhance a preteen’s self esteem.

It accomplished this in two ways. When the young girl changed for gym class she was seen by her peers wearing a bra. When she went to a dance the boy could feel the shoulder straps and knew she was wearing a bra. These facts may seem insignificant, but yearly sales between department stores, Chain stores and catalog totaled 120,000 dozen.

Note: Big Christmas party – big bonus   

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