Put Wholesale Bikini Away Your Push-Up Bras: Softer Lingerie Silhouettes Are Having a Moment

Agent Provocateur’s spring lingerie china campaign, which stars the French actress Mylène Jampanoï, was inspired by erotic films of the '70s like “Emmanuelle” and “The Story of O." Today's edition of WWD is devoted largely to intimates—style trends in lingerie, best-sellers across the country, etc.—and one trend that popped up in several articles is the movement toward a softer, '70s-inspired silhouette. It appears that triangle bras, sheer fabrics and a natural-looking silhouette are making a comeback, with European brands like Agent Provocateur, Eres, Bodas, and Yasmine Eslami reporting strong sales of softer and less-constructed silhouettes.

WWD remains remain speculative on the reasons why—they  suggest everything from a feminist zeitgeist shift to the recession and the Olympics as possible factors—but the trend seems to be wide reaching. Sarah Shotton, creative director of Agent Provocateur, said that among the bestsellers this season have been the triangle bras that give a teardrop shape and separate the breasts rather than push them together.

Bra and panty sets from Lou Lingerie and Deborah Marquit, via WWD

Shotton said she was inspired by issues of Playboy from the 1970s, with their soft-focus images and models who were “natural-looking shape and no fake boobs," for the brand's spring campaign. "A little wibble-wobble can be very sexy,” she told WWD.

Other trends to keep an eye out for are brights and high-waisted panties, like the styles above from Lou Lingerie and Deborah Marquit.

That is, of course, until next season when manufacturers have a chance to catch up with pop culture and Fifty Shade of Grey will wreak its inevitable havoc upon the lingerie market.