Color, Color Everywhere…

It looks like color will be pervading the drawers and racks of your favorite boutiques and department stores this fall.  Color palettes include elegant and opulent jewel tones like deep hued purples, full bodied wines, and strong sapphires as well as rich and robust autumnal shades like spice, poppy, and olive.  Even the absence of color makes a bold statement with luxurious, creamy colors like blush and oatmeal.

Favorite Brands for Color: Zinke, Brulee, Amulette, Affinitas, CLO

It’s All in the Details!

Prints are back!  I’m a huge fan of prints from a little accent to a bold statement.  This fall, prints are airy and ethereal and include feature everything from florals to birds to symbols.  Other favorite details for fall include the timeless eyelash lace, cheeky ruching, flirty ruffles, edgy hardware, and pretty piping.

Favorite Brands for Details: Beautiful Bottoms, Marlies Dekkers, Lelo,  ARI DEIN

Mix it Up

One of my favorite new trends is the concept of mixing and matching.  For all you recessionistas out there, this is the perfect way to maximize your lingerie wardrobe.  From camisoles, chemises, and robes in alternating colorways to solids and patterns with similar color palettes, there are limitless options for creating a unique look.  With so many options, it will be tough to decide!

Favorite Brands for Mixing and Matching: HotMilk, Between the Sheets, La Fee Verte, Amulette

The Romper is Here to Stay!

I’ve proclaimed my love for the romper before and am glad it is here to stay!  This fun and flirty silhouette continues to be a trend in many collections that speaks for itself.

Favorite Brands for Rompers: Else, La Fee Verte, Brulee, Zinke

Vintage Inspired Looks

Many brands are using classic looks of the past and reinventing them to be fitting for the modern woman.  Long lined bras, high-waisted knickers, and wide straps are just a few of the details that characterize this look of years gone by.

Favorite Brands for Vintage Inspired Looks: Dirty Dolls, Made by Niki, La Filled’O, Else

Five Brands & Products to Watch Out For!

Two Figs - This amazing, new, San Francisco-based company does exactly what its tagline says and supports sleeping beauty in its chemises, gowns, and more designed for cup sizes D-G.  Stay tuned for more including stockists!

Beautiful Bottoms - This darling, U.K. brand isn’t new, but it just emerging in the U.S. after experiencing much success abroad.  Known for affordable airy pieces, this brand is bound to be one of our favorites (and yours as well!).

Lelo – Lelo isn’t a new brand, but since introducing its first lingerie and loungewear line, I’m excited to see where they continue to take their collections.

HotMilk - HotMilk is on the cutting edge for luxurious pregnancy and post-pregnancy lingerie looks including everything from bra and panty sets, camisoles, and chemises to post-pregnancy shapewear, mix and match pajama tops and bottoms, and my favorite, the new wrap dress.

Pure Lime - This Scandinavian-based company that specializes in fitness attire is revolutionizing the sports bra with the addition of a detachable Polar heart rate monitor.  The runner in me is dying to know more and will bring you the information soon!

Made by Niki’s Fresh Foundations in shimmering silver with hot pink and bright orange accents and vintage detailing will add to a punch to the floaty feminine silhouettes coming to the fore this spring.

Deceptively discreet skin colored creations such as Ivory Slinkies work perfectly under a sheer chiffon smock dress to protect your modesty whilst ensuring that your silhouette still has maximum impact!

The new nudes work beautifully when layered up to embrace your softer side, Made by Niki’s Classics are ultra sexy, sheer and lacy and are the ideal solution for adding subtle shape and structure to the flimsiest of layers.

Niki’s “Fresh Foundations” Collection celebrates our vintage lingerie favorites, bringing them up to date with modern fabrics and the season’s hottest color combinations. With its unique mix of function, fashion and fabulous, Made by Niki lets you dress (or undress) to impress! Fresh Foundations combines the finest French, Italian and British fabrics with traditional, strong corsetry liners, to create a surprisingly powerful blend of body solutions – delicate yet hard-working – just like us girls!

“Slinkies” is a revolutionary collection of British body-sculpting basics that are ultra-versatile, gorgeously glamorous and perfect to wear wherever you go. Minimal, slick and glossy, their clever simplicity, underwear and outerwear options make them the ultimate must-have staple. Grippy on the inside, slippy on the outside, Slinkies stay in place on your body while letting your clothes drape just as they should. Sexy, slick and modern, the ultra-strong, semi-sheer power-knit with gloss finish is the glamorous girl’s best friend.

Niki’s “Classics” combine clean modern lines with a seductive edge, these supportive, sexy staples are inspired by decades of fashion, and the result is an instinctively modern clutch of softly structured pieces that keep you in great shape. The hard-working collection is formed from super-strong, ultra sheer fabrics and traditional corsetry techniques. Featuring multi-way, removable straps and adjustable details, Made by Niki’s “Classics” have become a favorite for glamorous girls worldwide.

Check out madebyniki.co.uk – it’s still as awesome as you remember it!

24 Hours Only! Prices will go back to normal at Midnight on Friday (UK time, beware!).

Hurry to the sale now, and get your Black Friday bargains (while stocks last).

More Black Friday Sales on our Lingerie Sales page. Thanks to Rune for the heads-up!

Grippy on the inside, slippy on the outside, these clever Body-Sculpting pieces will stay in place while letting your clothes drape just as they should. Precision cut to minimise VPL and made with anti-bacterial power fabric that will scoop, sculpt and shape you, they’ll also ward off body odour and keep you fresh as can be!

The Slinkies boyshort and high-waisted thong are already available on the brand’s website. The regular thong should be available soon. The bras, bustiers, and minidresses are slated to be available in about a month and the skirts, leggings, and girdles are expected in mid-January. It looks like all of these pieces will be available in black, white, or aqua. You can wait until the release dates to order yours, but if you want to get on the waiting list so you know your favorite style/color/size combo is yours, use the links above to find the product you want. Then follow these steps:

How to Get on the Waiting List
1. Choose a ‘Slinkies’ product (click the links above)
2. Put it in your basket and checkout as normal
3. Your order will be saved in the Made by Niki website. You will not be charged until your product is ready to send.
4. When it’s ready, they’ll take your payment and send it to you via the best courier possible (unaffected by Royal Mail Strikes)

Before you commit to a purchase, remember to visit the site and sign up for the Made by Niki newsletter for 10% off your next order!

“Hey Mandolina, I thought you’d like to know that Made by Niki has some secret size 6′s online. You won’t find them by searching the site – since they are only available in size 6 they’ve been hidden from everyone else. They are only available at the secret links below while stocks last.”

Now, I love Made by Niki, you love Made by Niki, we all love Made by Niki – loads of us are UK size 6, so I decided: let’s share – as these are KILLER sales!

Magic Bums (Sale Price £19.99)

: £19.99 Click to Buy
: £19.99 Click to Buy
: £19.99 Click to Buy
: £19.99 Click to Buy
: £19.99 Sssshhhh! Only the size 6′s are on sale – email niki@madebyniki.co.uk to buy one for £19.99

Suspender Skirts (Sale Price £29.99)

: £29.99 Click to Buy
: £29.99 Click to Buy
: £29.99 Click to Buy
: £29.99 Click to Buy
: £29.99 Sssssshhhh! Only the size 6′s are on sale, email niki@madebyniki.co.uk to buy one for £29.99

I hope not to get kicked off the Made by Niki mailing list by mentioning you can get these exclusive Made by Niki offers in your mailbox every once in a while by signing up as a VIP on www.madebyniki.co.uk.

It’s that time of year again – Spring has sprung, Summer is coming with a swathe of social gatherings in it’s wake. Made by Niki has some great tips for both the brides and the grooms!

Tips for Brides

Your wedding lingerie needs to work hard and play hard – these sheer mesh underthings have a gorgeous shine and will cinch and accentuate those curves under your amazing dress.

Strapless Balconette Bra: £64.99
Lacy Bridal Thong: £34.99
Magic Bum Girdle: £89
Suspender Skirt: £129

Tips for the Groom

You need an ultra-special gift for your new wife. It needs to be momentously gorgeous, naughty but nice. Made by Niki’s Heavenly Rosary Lingerie is built for this – the bra is handmade in ivory and silver silk-linen, with Niki’s hand-painted gold number label and a Swarovski Rosary Necklace.

Heavenly Bra & Necklace Set: £152
Heavenly Knicker & Rosary Beads: £65
Heavenly Rosary Necklace: £65 (email order only)

Maid of Honour & Bridesmaids

You have a job to do – look gorgeous, help the bride and dance with the best man. Better not let the side down!

Satin Multiway Plunge Bra in Hot Pink or Purple: £89.50
Satin Thong £39.99 or Satin Knickers £49.00
Silver Satin Pin-Up Panties £89

One of those labels ready to start retailing their SS09 pieces is TLP favorite Made by Niki. The new styles still have that signature Made by Niki feel: very retro, very luxurious and made with visibly delicate fabrics. The collection has those great padded bras, excellent knickers… and the extremely beautiful Magic Bum Girdles with “hidden power panels to lift, flatten and flatter your curves”. Somewhat surprising are the great new colors which really does give this new collection a very summery feeling.

“We have listened to our customers to extend and improve our range”, says Niki. The Fresh Foundations luxury range introduces 3 new gorgeous, sparkling, fashion-led concoctions for Spring/Summer 2009. Electric Shock, Chilli Chocolate and Night-Shock each give a super-boost of zingy energy at this much needed time.

The designer adds: “Whether it’s for Every-Day, Valentines, Bridal, Special Occasions or Xmas, Made by Niki have something to fulfil your needs”, explains Niki, “and it’s easy to view and order on www.madebyniki.co.uk“.

Want to pre-order? TLP has obtained these private links to the product pages of all these pretty numbers that will be available from early January. The Suspender Belt, Girdle Magic Bum, Plunge Padded Bra, Satin Wireless Padded Bra, Satin & Lace Thong & the Satin & Lace Knickers. I NEED MONEY!

The black mesh pieces available right now include a sheer front cinch bra in a wide range of sizes (30-38, A-FF!). This bra has no underwires and is especially popular in larger cup sizes. The thong is totally new and won’t even be available anywhere else until 2009! The suspender belt can be adjusted from 11cm to 21cm, and there is even the suspender skirt we all admired in the forums (and it’s on sale right now!).

Made by Niki is a designer lingerie firm, led by Niki McMorrough and husband Scott Parker. Despite setting up just two years ago, the company now exports to 12 countries worldwide including the US, France, Australia, China, Canada and Turkey.

“We were so thrilled to be a finalist in this prestigious award after such a short two years in business”, says Niki McMorrough, who adds that, “though we didn’t win it this year, it has been fantastic exposure for Made by Niki. We thoroughly enjoyed the awards, and I did have a lovely chat after the ceremony with Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal”.

“The company who pipped us to the post has been trading twice as long as Made by Niki and has twice as many accounts, and they really deserved to win it. We were thrilled to be in the running with such a high calibre of contestant, such as John Smedley and Orla Kiely. We will continue to strive to export our goods and bring foreign money into the country, and maybe we will win the award next year”.

Niki says that 50% of the firm’s business is now with the USA and the other half is the rest of the world. Niki’s lingerie sells in the highly prestigious Barney’s in the USA and Harvey Nichols in Istanbul.

“Victoria Beckham was our first customer, says Niki. She called and asked for some items to feature in her book and then she bought some lingerie as well. More recently our lingerie has been requested for shoots with Cameron Diaz, Penelope Cruz and Charlize Theron.”

The company’s success so far has been amazing and very hard work. Niki, 33 was in consumer marketing in London before she headed north to the De Montfort University to do a contour fashion degree specialising in lingerie and swimwear.

In London she had been head of marketing at The Ministry of Sound and then at a large broadcasting firm before she decided to end a ten-year career in marketing and try something new.

“I wanted a change and wanted to do my own thing, she said. After some business planning, I decided to go into lingerie. I had an interest in it, and had already taken courses at London College of Fashion and London College of Printing during my holidays and evenings while working in Soho”.

“I did my homework and I knew that it was a business worth looking into because of seemingly very good margins. It was also a manageable product that could be stored at home during our set up period. In the end, I went to De Montfort to do the BA Hons Degree in contour fashion. It is a very prestigious course – the only degree of its type in the world – and it was inaugurated over 50 years ago by appointment to the Queen herself! Only 30 or 40 people can get on the course in any one year.”

“I didn’t get time to graduate, because the business was already taking off. I design all the lingerie, and for the first two seasons I was manufacturing it all myself as well, sewing over 5,000 seams in my first season! The business has gone beyond that now and while I still design the collections, I employ freelancers and factories to help me make the patterns and do the sewing.”

In the past two years, the couple’s lives have changed beyond recognition. From marketing and design in the capital, their lives transformed as they headed north, moved here and then bought a property and set up a business.

Made by Niki was the only UK brand to be featured in a prestigious catwalk show (Prima Res) in Florence in February which was attended by the leading lingerie buyers in Italy. The brand was also voted ‘Best Talent’ at Paris, Salon International de la Lingerie 2008, and ‘Top 20 Brand’ at Paris 2007. Made by Niki was also invited to showcase in ‘Ultra Lingerie’ 2008, an international catwalk show for the world’s 40 best brands, which aims to be ‘the benchmark in couture lingerie’.

Scott gave up his job as a graphic designer in London in January to join Niki’s business. “We chose Market Harborough for two reasons. It’s a lovely market town, but it also has a corsetry and lingerie legacy, says Niki. Leicestershire was once well known for its lingerie factories, and we are glad to be bringing that reputation back to the area. As our business grows, we intend to take spaces in the corsetry factory here and employ local seamstresses to help with our sampling and small runs. There is a historical reason why we are based in Market Harborough.”

Niki describes her 2 lingerie ranges as a combination of simple, classic designs that fit like a glove and make you feel fabulous.

The first range, ‘Fresh Foundations’ was borne from a desire to create shapewear that you can show off, and includes glamorous body-shaping skirts, bustiers and corsets with coordinating lingerie and outerwear, retailing worldwide from £40 to £199.

The second range, ‘Limited Editions’, is a highly exclusive clutch of bejeweled collectible pieces, in series of no more than 100 hand-numbered sets worldwide. Knickers cost from £65 per pair and bras from £150.

Says Niki, “All our bras come in over 30 different sizes, from A to G cups. It’s a highly complicated business! Everything is of the highest quality and made in England and this is why we are so sought after abroad.”

“We are now at the stage that we can be very fussy about the clients we have. Before we allow a stockist to take our goods, we make sure they are the sort of stockist we want, which is a good position to be in.”

Made by Niki now boasts 70 stockists in 13 countries including the UK, USA, Northern Ireland, France, Belgium, Italy, Iceland, Mexico, Australia, Turkey, China, Canada, UK and Southern Ireland.

In July the company will re-launch its website which will allow full e-commerce shopping (www.madebyniki.co.uk). Hear Niki speaking about UK Fashion Export awards right here!