Baserange creates underwear for real bodies

Go to Baserange’s website and you’ll see people who look like, well, people. People of all sizes and ages, without airbrushing and without makeup, looking like someone would look on the street or like you look right now. It’s surprisingly jarring at first glance because it’s so different from typical retail images with professional models and glossy productions. But then Baserange was founded on the basis of doing things differently.

“The brand was founded with the idea of ​​creating images for women and developing more flexible narratives about how we talk about women and our bodies,” says Marie-Louise Mogensen, who co-founded Legait Baserange with her friend Blandine. “That was the idea behind it.” [our first product] There are non-wired bras that shape your breasts and feel comfortable. “We thought about the look and made sure we were creating products that served our well-being, not for other people to look at.”

Ten years of base range

(Image credit: Courtesy of Baserange)

This might sound like a simple concept, but when the brand was founded in 2012, perfectly Photoshopped images of Victoria Secret-style women in push-up bras and lace thongs were the norm. Creating a brand that offers women comfortable underwear and bras in neutral tones that aren’t sexy but aren’t frumpy either; that were simply intended to make their wearers feel good – that was practically unheard of. Likewise, natural and recycled materials such as renewable cotton, hemp, bamboo and wild silk were used in each of her pieces.

Of course, many brands today tout the use of sustainable materials, but unlike most, Baserange truly engages in a constant and demanding process of identifying which materials and production practices have the lowest possible impact on the environment. Their website also contains an extensive database of all the factories they work with, interviews with the employees there, information about the certifications they use for their non-toxic dyes, and maps detailing their production network.

This kind of transparency and commitment is admirable, but it makes the brand’s job much more complicated. “There are situations in which a product goes into production and then we find that the fiber is not available for six months,” says Mogensen. “With these fibers it’s almost two steps forward and three steps back.” Added to this is getting to know the areas and processes [of production] And even the way of shipping is complicated.’

This process has become even more difficult as Baserange has expanded its product offering from its original women’s basics to a more diverse clothing range and, as of this year, men’s clothing and a homeware line. Still, pivoting into menswear with a debut underwear and T-shirt line felt like a natural step for the brand, a way to make it, as Mogensen puts it, “not just a women’s story, but a human story.” make. The homeware line grew out of the first test products that Baserange displayed in its Copenhagen store – cushions filled with fabric scraps, linen tablecloths – and observing how customers interacted with them. The brand recognized the demand and developed a collection that includes bed linen, towels and tablecloths made from the same materials as their clothing.

(Image credit: Courtesy of Baserange)

“It’s hard to be part of a system that is very fast and speaks in numbers and at the same time try to exist in a way that is sustainable or healthy for people,” says Mogensen. Still, there is no other way for the team behind Baserange to create. Clothing should be consciously made with the ultimate goal of making the wearer feel physically and mentally comfortable by fitting easily, looking good and adapting to fluctuations in their body. It’s a self-evident premise, but one that is still often missing in the fashion industry. As Stine Kinch, designer and artistic director of Baserange’s home collection, says, “We’re trying to recreate our relationship with an industry.” “It’s important to always keep the conversation and the questioning going.”