Wonderbra® History
After creating a fashion sensation in the U.K, the Wonderbra Brand made its U.S. debut in 1994 with the Push-Up Plunge Bra. An instant phenomenon, this Wonderbra style sold at a rate of one every 15 seconds, quickly becoming the nation's top selling push-up bra.
The Wonderbra Push-Up Plunge Bra is the original dramatic cleavage bra. Created in 1964, this unique garment -- the forerunner of today's Wonderbra push-up bra -- had 54 design elements that lifted and supported the bust to create dramatic cleavage. The secret? "Precision engineering": three-part cup construction, precision-angled back and underwire cups, removable pads called cookies, "gate back" back design for support, and rigid straps.
In May 1994, Sara Lee introduced "The One and Only Wonderbra®" to the U.S. with incredible fanfare and excitement. In New York City, armored cars and limousines carrying "Secret Service" men and models clad in dark sunglasses and bright yellow Wonderbra-logoed baseball jackets pulled up to unload the first boxes before throngs of confetti-tossing, sign-waving crowds. Wonderbra bras arrived by pink Cadillacs in Miami, by cable car in San Francisco and by helicopter in Los Angeles.
Wonderbra quickly became the No. 1 push-up bra wherever it was sold. It was the marketing story of 1994, appearing on the Top 10 Product Lists of Fortune, Time, Newsweek, USA Today, and many others … and it became a bona fide cultural phenomenon, featured in Letterman Top 10 Lists, Jay Leno monologues, TV sitcoms and dramas and much more. Eva Herzigova became the first official Wonderbra model, changing the look of intimate apparel in advertising forever.
Successive years show Wonderbra, heralded "the sexy department store brand", introducing fashionable, premium, technologically advanced, shape-enhancing collections, expanding into silhouettes beyond push-up bras. Known primarily for its push-up heritage, today, Wonderbra offers varying degrees of shape enhancement, from lightly lined bras to push-up bras.
Today, Wonderbra is a leader in specialty bras in department stores, as well as the push-up category, and the brand continues to expand its portfolio with successful new product introductions like the Wonderbra Love It Lace™ collection in 2003, and the Extravagance™ collection in 2004, which are carried in better department stores nationwide.
In October 2004, Wonderbra celebrated its 10th Anniversary in the U.S., high above Times Square in New York City, where a new 10th Anniversary ad campaign featuring the newest face of Wonderbra, Maja.
Wonderbra company headquarters are located in Winston-Salem, N.C. and additional US facilities are located in New York City.