(Filed Under wholesale Lingerie News). Oh La La Cheri, the Miami-based lingerie firm, reported its tenth straight year of sales growth, expecting to end 2016 up by over 30%.

What is interesting about the rise of Oh La La Cheri is the unique perspective on the market of owner and lead designer Nicolas Attard. “Society is evolving. What every woman wants is to feel confident, to feel superior, to feel comfortable with her own body. And lingerie is one of the bullets in her weapon,” he began.

“Lingerie is making women feel beautiful, to feel very powerful in front of a guy. And even if there is no guy involved, there is the pleasure of self, of feeling good about yourself. Now women want to please themselves before pleasing anyone else.”

What has propelled the extraordinary growth of Oh La La Cheri over the years has been the constant striving to provide lingerie styles that are right on the leading edge of where the fashion world is heading. While this might seem an obvious goal, very few firms making “sexy” lingerie are working this way. The norm is to repeat age old silhouettes and colors, season after season. The result is boredom instead of excitement.

“Because we are following the trends so closely, we are considered as a key resource by the fashion-forward stores and websites.”

Part of the latest change into which Attard is tuned is the new attitude customers have towards racy intimates. “Sexy lingerie used to be this unknown category. It used to be associated with sex toys. It was very adult. Now it has become part of their fashion wardrobe, their fashion assortment. They are proud of it. They take pictures of it on Instagram and Facebook. They go out with their lingerie showing.”

He described a recent encounter with a customer. “She was wearing an open-cup bra over a white shirt. It was super fashiony. Super cute. It was a statement. This is exactly what I have been running after, what I have been saying for years. That lingerie would become part of the fashion assortment.”

Today the designer admits to finding a great deal of inspiration from what the new, young consumer is doing with here lingerie. “I am very much inspired by what I see on social media, on the street, on Instagram.”

Even ten years after the launch of Oh La La Cheri, Attard remains full of enthusiasm for design. “This is what I love the most. When a new collection comes in, I am waiting for the new samples, like candies. I am the only one who can open the box. I want to be the first one looking at them.”

Besides the obvious strengths on the design side, another part of Oh La La Cheri’s sales success has come from improvements to its business planning, inventory management, warehouse and delivery systems as well as a dramatic increase in the size of the staff. Now the company keeps more inventory in stock and delivers it faster than ever. “We are working more closely with our customers, the stores. We have taken the company to the next level,” said Attard.

“Every year I feel, at the end of the year, relief. But I am also anxious to start the next year. Right now I am so excited for customers to see what we have in store for them in 2017.” — NM

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Published 12-09-2016 by Nick Monjo