A local boutique in Fiji is venturing into producing high quality undergarments for men and women, a demand which has not been tapped into before.
According to Zuber Fiji co-creative director, Fuzz Ali, they have invested around $5000 to $6000 to build on this expansion within their brand.
“Basically what we are doing through the lockdown period, we were looking at the shop and we wanted to make an interactive space,” he said. “What we decided to do was look at what was the need in the market and one of the things that was pretty major was there was no underwear line or it was very hard to find.
“Initially what we tried to do was develop our own underwear line. It’s quite difficult to do because we are not trained in that area particularly for women so what we decided to do was to source underwear.”
He said they had formed an inclusive arrangement with a company in Australia called Boody.
Boody’s undergarments according to Mr Ali was made from eco-friendly material bamboo fibre and it was perfect for Fiji’s environment. He said the material was anti-bacterial anti-microbial was great against the heat.
With the arrival of the underwear line the boutique department at Palm Court in Suva would now have a lingerie and undergarments section.
“We are also working with another local supplier called The Bra Shop Fiji, who specialises in seamless underwear and seamless bras so they will be also stocking in the same spaces.”
Mr Ali added the idea was to give people options and they had developed men’s underwear while still being in the process of developing women’s underwear. He said the men’s under wear which they had developed would be available under the Zuber branded underwear.
“It is cotton underwear for men, in a contemporary style which is branded because there is value in those sort of things right now and its very on trend and in fashion to do that.
“It’s called Zuber Skin, I think it’s never been done before, there has never been a local underwear producer, we will be the first people to do it which we are really excited about,” he said.
According to Mr Ali there was a demand for this as generally there was a demand for good quality undergarments. He said it was difficult for men and women to find good quality undergarments in the country.
Either people were buying these products which were unsuitable for the climate as it would leave them feeling uncomfortable or they would get relatives from overseas to buy and send it in which is just a whole process as stated by Mr Ali.
“So it’s sort of like a mid-range affordable product which will be accessible to everybody.”
The decision to expand on this brand during a pandemic was something Mr Ali had thought about constantly however they have managed to have found success during this period through the launch of their two new collections which were both doing well.
“We feel that there is an appetite for retail right now, people want to buy, people want to feel good, our market in particular they want to get out and feel normal again.
“And also with the hope of borders opening people were becoming more confident, all of that taken into context and consideration we are fairly confident that it’s a good move long term.”
The undergarments for both and women will be available in the store and launched on their website in the coming days.
Mr Ali said they had inclusive sizes for both the genders.
