Biography

'Truly Revolutionary'

VOGUE

Biography

Multi award winning Damaris Evans, is the creative force that revolutionised the lingerie landscape and took us outside the long accepted norm. Before Damaris lingerie, there was no such thing as a bow-back knicker, the world had never heard of bottom cleavage, a ‘corset’ knicker, or ‘star’ knickers were unimaginable.

When Damaris’ burst onto the scene in 2001 after graduating from Central St Martins, the press exploded with praise. “Damaris designs the cheekiest knickers in the world, the underwear industry has been rocked by them;  they’re so original and popular” – EVENING STANDARD.

Damaris paved the way for truly luxury lingerie. The Times said;  “Damaris has broken the mould in lingerie-no one sold knickers

over £100.00 before her.” For the first time in their 112 year history, retail giant Selfridges found themselves with a waiting list for underwear.  Tales of women (Liv Tyler) fighting at the tills over Damaris were reported in Elle Magazine.  Vogue reported, “The fashion pack and celebrities are going mad for Damaris’ lingerie.”  Before Damaris, a bra was a bra, and a knicker was simply a knicker. 

Twenty years on, the lingerie world regards these shapes as standard product, with lesser versions of Damaris’ innovative

designs having infiltrated every corner of the market. VOGUE MAGAZINE, claimed Damaris was ‘Truly revolutionary’. TATLER and GLAMOUR hailed Damaris ‘Queen of Lingerie’. 

From no more than a £5,000.00 grant from the Prince’s Trust in 2001, with absolutely no investment Damaris Evans grew her business into an international creative powerhouses with a retail values in excess of £10 million. Unusually in the world of luxury fashion, Damaris operated both businesses in profit since day one.

Mimi Holliday was created as a diffusion line to the luxury price point of Damaris, offering, lingerie, maternity, sleepwear, swimwear and cruise wear.  2014 finds the brand with continuous astronomical growth year on year and a global stronghold, with over 350 of the worlds leading independent and department stores in over 35 countries. 

For the first time in her career,  March 2021 saw Damaris collaborate with a high street brand.  The iconic Marks and Spencer, a British brand that has similar values to DAMARIS.  The collection named BOUTIQUE X DAMARIS, was a huge success with the press hailing the collaboration as, “M&S’s prettiest collection ever, by Damaris Evans’ a celebrated accolade, considering M&S holds a majority of the lingerie market share in the UK, alongside the137 year history of the brand.  In August 2021, CEO Steve Row commented in THE TIMES, ‘Damaris has played a part of Marks and Spencer’s success.’

“Avant-garde lingerie should be full of surprises, it must push design barriers. Though lingerie, a woman shows her true style. It is integral that my designs are luxurious, fun, interesting, inclusive, intricate and essentially functional.” – D A M A R I S  EV A N S

Damaris is unarguably one of the most innovative lingerie designers to come out of this century.

Damaris Evans is the creative force that revolutionised the lingerie landscape and took us outside the long accepted norm.
 
Before Damaris lingerie, there was no such thing as a bow-back knicker, the world had never heard of bottom cleavage, corset tie designs did not exist and ‘star’ knickers were unimaginable.
 
When Damaris burst onto the scene, press exploded with praise.
“Damaris designs the cheekiest knickers in the world, the underwear industry has been rocked by them; they’re so original and popular” – Evening Standard.
 
Damaris paved the way for truly avent-garde luxury lingerie. TheTimes said; “Damaris has broken the mould in lingerie – no one sold knickers over £100.00 before her.” For the first time in their 108-year history, retail giant Selfridges found themselves with a waiting list for underwear. Tales of women fighting at the tills over Damaris were reported in Elle Magazine. Vogue reported, “The fashion pack and celebrities are going mad for Damaris’ latest collections.” Before Damaris, a bra was a bra, and a knicker was simply a knicker.
 
Eighteen years on, the lingerie world regards these shapes as standard product, with lesser versions of Damaris’ innovative designs having infiltrated every corner of the market.
 
In 2003, huge demand carved the way for Mimi Holliday, created as a diffusion line to the luxury price point of Damaris. With the same avent – garde, creative, brand ethos, and maintaining the exceptional fit of Damaris, Mimi Holliday was born capable of vast acceleration. 2014 finds the brand with continuous astronomical growth year on year and a global stronghold, with over 350 stockists internationally. Offered in sixty-nine sizes, the Mimi Holliday label was sold to an extraordinarily wide, loyal demographic. 
 
The brand’s own e-commerce platform became the focus of the brands business in 2017 and the final trading year saw sales double in growth.  Mimi Holliday diversified into maternity, sleepwear, loungewear and shape wear, a full beachwear collection, including swimwear, hats, bags, shoes, tunics. Mens underwear and swim shorts and boys underwear launched under the brand Max Holliday with a launch in Selfridges.
 
Damaris solely designed and managed production of up to 6 collections per year covering all brands and ranges with up to 800 styles per year. In addition to these, further designs were created and developed for leading global partners, such as Net A Porter and the Pop Up Collections of between 20-180 styles per project.
 
Damaris, originally a women’s wear designer, has an exceptional understanding of pattern cutting and the manufacturing process which enables her to work with factories, to create a mutually beneficial, productive, enjoyable and successful partnership.
 
From no more than a £5,000.00 grant from the Prince’s Trust in 2001, with absolutely no investment, Damaris grew her brands into an international creative powerhouse with an annual retail value in excess of £9 million. Unusually in the world of luxury fashion, Damaris’ companies operated in profit for over 75% of the twenty years of trading.
 
Underneath the Damaris creative umbrella, stood four successful brands: Damaris, Mimi Holliday, Max Holliday and Kitty Coquette. 
 
Damaris is unarguably one of the most innovative lingerie and beachwear designers to come out of this century.
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