Underwear Entrepreneur: Sexy Period Founder Julie Sygiel

Underwear Entrepreneur: Sexy Period Founder Julie Sygiel

In every woman’s underwear drawer, there is a rigid hierarchy.  There are some – like the good china – that only emerge on special occasions. Most are deemed suitable for everyday use; others are crucial for certain articles of clothing.  However the most influential regulation on the lingerie pecking order is not dictated by the ‘Days of the Week’ set, but rather by days of the month.  During that certain segment of the cycle, women draw from the very bottom of the bunch.

Julie Sygiel co-founded and heads up Sexy Period – a company that will change the way we think about the lacy hierarchy.  Sexy Period makes period underwear, not antique Victorian bloomers, but rather lingerie specially created as a reliable backup for that time of the month.

The protection she needs, the style she wants

Last week, Sexy Period launched 500 pairs in a preview, after nearly three years of R&D.  At $32 to $44 they are more than the average pair, but well below the steep price of many frivolous lacies, and they’re certainly not frivolous or average. Julie, a bright and cheerful recent Brown graduate, explains that Sexy Period’s undies are constructed from a unique fabric that makes them leak-free, stain-resistant, breathable, comfortable, and fashionable.

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The three pairs, each available in three cuts, feature sassy names reminiscent of the labels on the top of nail-polish bottles: Friday Night Fabulous, Simply Stunning, and Blossoming Beauty. The last pair is particularly striking: it contrasts a dark navy bottom with a hand-painted floral band across the top.  “We wanted something different, but feminine,” says Julie, “girly fabric without being grandmotherly.” To differentiate from the typical small print on most undies, the flowers in the design are large, abstract, and freshly unique.

The solution to a problem

Julie founded Sexy Period in 2008 with Eunice Png. The two met in an entrepreneurship class at Brown. “Our professor said that the best businesses are built on a solution to a problem,” says Julie, “and that spring break Eunice went on a trip with several women who had this very problem, so Eunice and I set about creating a solution.” 

The two girls worked through graduation in 2009, researching, designing, interviewing clients in campus coffee shops, and cold-calling fabric companies.  It was a goose-chase to find the perfect fabric, but by the winter “my dining room table was covered with fabric, thread, and envelopes,” and by spring 2010, Julie and Eunice had sewn and tested two hundred prototypes.

“We asked women to test them in a stress free situation but during worst case scenario,” says Julie, “However, worst case is impossible to predict, so some testers wore our pairs to meetings, horse back riding, and to spin class.” Certainly not stress-free.  “These women crossed their fingers and said, ‘Okay we’re putting faith in these pairs,’ and thankfully the results were positive.”

Sexy Period’s design goal aimed to fit into women’s predilections for cute cuts, pretty patterns, comfort, and fit.  “If we were going to introduce a new product,” one that added function to fashion, “we knew it had to fit in with what women already wear and want.”  Fit they do, right into a gap you didn’t even know you had in your lingerie collection.

Sexy Period panties are available online through the Web site, here.

Photos: Isaac Blankensmith, Daniel Gagnon