Kay Cohen facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kay Cohen
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Cohen in Paris 2011
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| Born | 31 December 1952 |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Alma mater | Massey University Heriot-Watt University |
| Occupation | Fashion designer |
| Known for | Lingerie Design |
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Kay Cohen (born Kathleen Siddall on 31 December 1952) is an Australian fashion designer and business leader. She is based in Sydney, Australia. Kay Cohen is well-known for designing lingerie, which is a type of underwear. She has led several famous lingerie brands. These include Pleasure State, which she founded, and Elle Macpherson Intimates. Kay Cohen also invented a special bra called the Biofit uplift bra.
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Early Life and Learning
Kay Cohen grew up on a farm. She first became interested in fashion when she was 12 years old. She studied clothing and textile design at Wellington Polytechnic. This school is now part of Massey University.
After finishing her studies, she became a teacher there. She even taught another famous Australian designer, Collette Dinnigan. For the first 15 years of her career, Kay Cohen designed regular clothes. Later, she earned a special business degree (an MBA) from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.
Starting in Lingerie Design
Kay Cohen began designing lingerie in 1992. She joined a company called Triumph International in Brisbane, Australia. There, she was in charge of the creative side for brands like Triumph and Sloggi. She also helped bring the Valisere brand to Australia.
In 1997, Cohen moved back to New Zealand. She became a top manager for the Bendon lingerie group. At Bendon, she was known for her creative ideas. She successfully changed the look of supermodel Elle Macpherson's lingerie brand, Elle Macpherson Intimates. She also led the design for other brands like Bendon and Expozay swim.
Elle Macpherson Intimates and Bendon
When Kay Cohen was the creative director for Elle Macpherson Intimates, it became a top underwear brand. It was very popular in department stores in Australia and the UK. In 1997, she also launched Macpherson Men. This was a men's underwear brand that quickly became successful.
Because of this success, Bendon started selling Elle Macpherson underwear in the United Kingdom. By 2001, the brand was sold in famous London stores like Selfridges and House of Fraser.
In 2002, Cohen relaunched the swimwear brand Expozay. She worked with Australian actress and model Sophie Monk for this launch. Kay Cohen also featured Jennifer Hawkins in an Expozay fashion show in New Zealand. This was two years before Jennifer Hawkins won the Miss Universe title.
Later in 2002, Bendon was bought by another company. Kay Cohen then moved to Australia in 2003. She became the head of design for the Berlei Group. This group included brands like Berlei, Formfit, and Wonderbra. However, Cohen soon wanted to create something new. She saw a need for lingerie that combined fashion, good fit, and usefulness.
Pleasure State
Kay Cohen launched her new luxury lingerie brand, Pleasure State, in 2004. She showed it at Mercedes Australian Fashion Week in Sydney. Fashion experts voted it one of the top 10 shows. Even before the launch, major stores wanted to sell Pleasure State. These included David Jones in Australia and famous UK stores like Harrods and Selfridges.
First Collection at Fashion Week
The first Pleasure State collection used beautiful French lace and silks. It also brought back woven fabrics, which were different from the usual stretchy materials. The designs had small Swarovski crystals, which was a new trend in lingerie. The bras had wider straps and smooth designs. These became key features of Pleasure State, now called Pleasure State Couture. The fabrics were a mix of silk with other materials like tactel and lycra. This made the clothes comfortable for everyday wear. Most of these fabrics came from France and Italy.
Growing Around the World
By March 2005, Kay Cohen's brand was sold in over 300 stores worldwide. This included Galeries Lafayette in Paris and Victoria's Secret in the United States. By April, Pleasure State was in 45 Victoria's Secret stores. It was one of only three international designer lingerie brands sold there.
In November 2005, Cohen's brand was available in 90 stores across Russia. It quickly became their best-selling brand. Within two years of starting, Pleasure State was sold in 25 countries. Cohen also launched a more affordable line called Pleasure State White Label. The original high-fashion line was renamed Pleasure State Couture. Today, Pleasure State is sold in 35 countries and over 1000 stores.
Around this time, the brand also moved its Australian sales to Myer department stores. Many celebrities wore Kay Cohen's designs. These included Jessica Simpson, Ashlee Simpson, Rihanna, and Anna Nicole Smith. By mid-2007, Cohen's brand was making over $30 million Australian dollars each year. At this point, she announced her new invention, the Biofit bra.
The Biofit Uplift Bra
Kay Cohen's Biofit uplift bra had the biggest launch ever for Limited Brands, the company that owns Victoria's Secret. Cohen's clever idea was to make a push-up bra that was different for each cup size. This meant it gave just the right amount of lift for each woman.
Kay Cohen worked with Sophie Monk again for the Australian launch of Biofit. Sophie Monk even appeared in a music video for the bra. Because of an agreement with Victoria's Secret, the Biofit bra was later called Myfit in Australia.
In May 2010, Kay Cohen combined Pleasure State with her old company, Bendon. She then left the company.
Silent Assembly
Kay Cohen launched a new brand called Silent Assembly in July 2013. She introduced it at the Mode City Lingerie fair in Paris. Silent Assembly is a luxury lingerie brand. It features Cohen's new bra technology called Curvessence. This new design is meant to replace traditional underwires in bras.
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