Marie Jo
Belgian chocolate is renowned throughout the world as being amongst the most luxurious chocolate you can eat. Belgian waffles are a speciality which marks out Belgian cuisine as being of the finest quality in Europe. Belgian beer is regarded as an alcoholic apotheosis. But who knew that Belgium also produced some of the worlds finest lingerie?
Marie Jo is a lingerie company based in Belgium which designs and manufactures some of the most elegant, most sophisticated, and most beautifully artistic lingerie on the market. Their history is a long one filled with innovation and flair, and theyve consistently been at the forefront of lingerie design through the course of their development.
Van De Velde
After World War I had decimated the Belgian countryside and torn Europe apart, industry was concerning itself with constructing building materials and the people were busy rebuilding their lives; finding niches for themselves in which they could flourish. In 1919, Achiel and Margaretha Van de Velde opened a small workshop in the region of Flanders, a village called Schellebelle. They devoted themselves to the design and manufacture of high-quality corsets, for various brands and had 60 or 70 clients. Their specialist shop began to expand rapidly as word of the comfort and quality of their corsets began to spread, and the Van De Veldes found themselves rapidly hiring new expert seamstresses to cope with the demand.
After the horrors of the Second World War had subsided, the children of the original Van De Veldes found that again, as with end of WWI, there was a market for their industry-leading corsets. They expanded the range and began to export their products to neighbouring European countries. This solidified their success and established their reputation for expert craftsmanship and skilful business dealing. For the next 30 years, Van De Velde continued to develop and grow, never reaching truly international status but offering consistently innovative products, and their customers remained loyal.
Marie Jo
In 1981, Van De Velde had been producing high end lingerie for several years, but now they decided to launch an entire fashion brand. Marie Jo was born. Marie Jo was a seamless blend of comfort and aesthetics, resulting in lingerie ranges which were as good to wear as they were to behold. Marie Jos Tulle series, released in 1982, would pave the way for the future development of Marie Jos lingerie. It was soft and delicate, but strong and robust and all the while it was a beautiful, artistic expression of the designers creativity.
From this point on, Marie Jo would innovate year after year, becoming the first lingerie brand to use elastic velvet for comfort and appearance in 1985, and then using die-stamp printing in 1987 before anyone else. Marie Jo was the first brand to introduce back adjustment on the straps. Previous to Marie Jos innovation in the mid 1980s, all straps had unsightly adjustment at the front, but Marie Jo moved these to the back of the bra to improve the aesthetics of the dcollet. In 1988, Marie Jo foresaw the popularity of opaque lingerie and bold graphics, and in 1992 they were the first in Europe to use moulded foam cups. This list of their achievements goes on and on, with the innovations and revolutions accelerating year on year until they achieved such momentum, their client base had become so huge and their designs were recognised so widely that, combining the two sister brands Prima Donna and Marie Jo lAventure, its sales reached 135.2 million Euros. And thats where we find them today.
Quality Assurance
Even now, in the Van de Velde factory, situated next to the back garden of the Van De Velde family home in Belgium, youll be able to find lingerie ranges being stretched by specially designed machines, washed continuously, spun continuously, and then dried continuously to check the lingeries longevity and make sure it will stand up to the treatment it will receive in every day life. It seems satisfying that even in the face of the millions of pieces of lingerie they produce each year, the company still tests them in their back garden its very human, as are the companys designs and philosophies.
The motto of Marie Jo today is Shaping a womans body and mind a motto which is reflected in their excellent fit and shape. Their theory is that if a woman is comfortable in her lingerie, she will feel wonderful in her person. The company promotes the need for well fitting lingerie, and they have a mission to provide extremely good quality lingerie to every woman in the world.
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