In the mid-1990s, lingerie stores were full of cute, but somewhat sexless bras. Fortunately, Marlies Dekkers started to gain more and more ground. Her exciting, beautiful and feminine bras were initially only available in a select number of stores, but that quickly expanded. After all, her bras were not only innovative, but also of good quality. Unfortunately, years later she became embroiled in a lengthy lawsuit with newcomer Sapph and her company went bankrupt in 2013. The success of Marlies Dekkers lingerie does not go unnoticed: many brands are inspired by Marlies Dekkers’ designs. Unfortunately, she is also not spared from plagiarism
Marlies Dekkers
Marlies Dekkers was born in 1965. After completing her home economics school and HAVO, she studied at the St. Joost Art Academy in Breda. She graduated there with honors.
Bra straps
In 1993 she set up her lingerie line Undressed . For this line she does not use lace, bows and other frills that her fellow designers come up with. Marlies Dekkers’ design is characterized by lines (special bra strap constructions), layers and cutouts in unexpected places.
Colour
Her first designs were in one color, mainly to reduce costs. Black, white and red. Later, more colors were added and she also designs multi-colored bras. Behind each collection there is a different inspiration story in which art, literature, philosophy, photography and film play a role.
Swimwear
After the success of Undressed, Marlies soon started a men’s line, followed by a swimwear line for women: Sundressed. Many more lines will follow later, such as Nightdressed (nightwear and evening wear) and Sundressed Sunglasses (sunglasses). Her latest line consists of nursing bras. Comfortable bras that are slightly sexier than normal nursing bras.
Stores
Her collections are no longer only sold in the Bijenkorf and lingerie specialty stores , but Marlies Dekkers also opens her own stores . Marlies Dekkers has now made her international breakthrough. Her own stores are not only in Rotterdam, The Hague, Amsterdam, Utrecht and Maastricht, but also in Antwerp, Berlin, Paris, Bangkok and from September in New York.
Bankrupt
In 2007 she was named businesswoman of the year . Her book, which she wrote together with Heleen van Royen, was also published: Stout. This book is about women’s fantasies and adventures in the field of eroticism and seduction. It all seems as if everything is going well.
But she is fighting a long-term legal battle with Sapph , a new Dutch brand that also markets bras with extra straps. Ultimately, the hatchet is buried.
In 2013, her company was declared bankrupt . However, Marlies Dekkers immediately made a new start, which means that her bras are still for sale in many places.
