Editor’s Note: NCA Executive Director Ed Avis recently spoke with Lori Kaplan, owner of Bra Tenders, a new NCA Vendor Member that carries a proprietary line of undergarments that are highly valued by New York theater performers. This is an edited version of their conversation.
Avis: When did you start Bra Tenders?
Lori Kaplan
Kaplan: Bra Tenders was born in 1999, and we've been in our current New York City location since 2003. Before Bra Tenders was its own entity, I worked for somebody else in a similar kind of business for over 20 years, so I have 45 years of my life invested in this…. The business was created in my living room in Brooklyn. When we couldn't see out the windows, because there was so much merchandise, we started looking for a physical space in Manhattan. We got a small store on Ninth Avenue, which 20 years ago was still on the sketchy side, but it was developing. It put us very close to the theater district where we wanted to be. A couple of years after that, we outgrew that tiny little space. We moved into our current space, which is about 2,500 square feet.
Avis: So your clients are in theater and film?
Kaplan: Broadway, film, television, and we also work with regular women who just need bras that fit them properly. We work with a lot of brides and people from the performing arts going to galas and red carpet events. There's a lot of underwear that goes into creating a smooth, sleek silhouette, especially under dresses that are cut down to here and cut down to there. Our work with stylists and costume designers taught us a lot of tricks that also work for brides and other formal wear and just for women who need to look good on a daily basis, especially full breasted women.
Avis: You also make a line of proprietary products. Tell us about those.
Kaplan: When we first moved into our little space, a wardrobe person on Broadway was doing a project for a pet organization that he believed in. He asked me if we had any “cock socks,” and we did not. There was a factory that made some dance wear for us, and we told them what we were looking for and asked if he could make something like that. He made a couple of prototypes, and it turned out to be a hit. Then, very shortly after, somebody was looking for a nude colored men's underwear, which didn't exist in the market back then, so we started making a facsimile of men's underwear in three different skin shades in 2003. They're still our best-selling products today. They’re used in nude scenes, things like that.
Avis: Are “cock socks” what I think they are?
Kaplan: Yep. You can go on our website and look up Houdini, and that is our number one selling product in the shop.
Avis: You also have a line of proprietary specialty hosiery, right?
Kaplan: In the very beginning, people were always looking for sheer to the waist support hose, because they make the legs look good, and it has to be sheer to the waist because showgirls and costumes can't have any lines across the thighs. The company that was making the hose that was used for over 40 years can't make that particular hosiery anymore, so over the past two years, we've been working with another factory to create something that works on stage. We have 13 different skin shades in these tights and we carry them in nine sizes.
Avis: Great. What products are you offering wholesale to NCA members?
Kaplan: We offer all of our proprietary products wholesale, including our Houdinis, the BT brand of modesty wear, and the New Heaven hosiery. Members can visit our site, bratenders.com, and email me for wholesale information, lori@bratenders.com
Avis: Anything else you want people to know about Bra Tenders?
Kaplan: That we carry things you can't find anywhere else, based on requests from our entertainment related community. And we're still people who answer the telephone.