Kay Cohen (born Kathleen Siddall on 31 December 1952 in
Levin,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
)
[
] is an
Australian
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal Au ...
fashion designer
Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...
and business woman based in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. Cohen has led a number of
lingerie
Lingerie (, , ) is a category of primarily women's clothing including undergarments (mainly brassieres), sleepwear, and lightweight robes. The choice of the word is often motivated by an intention to imply that the garments are alluring, fashio ...
design brands,
most notably as Founder and Creative Director of Pleasure State
and as General Manager and Creative Director of Elle Macpherson's Lingerie label Elle Macpherson Intimates,
also Cohen is known as the inventor of the Biofit uplift bra.
Early life and education
Cohen was raised on a farm and first discovered fashion at the age of 12.
She attended
Wellington Polytechnic
Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...
(now
Massey University
Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...
) in nearby
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
, majoring in Clothing and Textile design.
After graduation, she qualified and continued as a lecturer at the school,
instructing fellow Australian Fashion Designer
Collette Dinnigan
Collette Mary Ann Dinnigan (born 24 September 1965) is an Australian based fashion designer. Born in South Africa, Dinnigan moved to New Zealand, then Australia, where she obtained work with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. She opened ...
. The first 15 years of Cohen's career were spent designing fashion outerwear.
Cohen later qualified with an MBA from
Heriot-Watt University
Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...
,
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
.
Lingerie beginnings
Cohen transitioned to Lingerie design in 1992 when she joined
Triumph International
Triumph International is a Swiss underwear manufacturer founded in 1886 in Heubach, Germany. The company's headquarters has been located in Bad Zurzach, Switzerland, since 1977, and it has branches in 45 countries. In addition to the Triumph bra ...
,
in
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
, Australia. At Triumph she was responsible for creative direction for brands including Triumph,
Sloggi
Triumph International is a Swiss underwear manufacturer founded in 1886 in Heubach, Germany. The company's headquarters has been located in Bad Zurzach, Switzerland, since 1977, and it has branches in 45 countries. In addition to the Triumph br ...
,
and introduced
Valisere
Triumph International is a Swiss underwear manufacturer founded in 1886 in Heubach, Germany. The company's headquarters has been located in Bad Zurzach, Switzerland, since 1977, and it has branches in 45 countries. In addition to the Triumph b ...
to the Australian market. In 1997 Cohen returned to New Zealand and was appointed Group General Manager of Brands for the New Zealand Lingerie group Bendon.
At Bendon, Cohen was known for her creative direction and successful reshaping of Elle Macpherson's Lingerie Label: Elle Macpherson Intimates as well as heading creative for labels Bendon,
Bendon Man, Hey Sister and Expozay swim.
Elle Macpherson Intimates and the Bendon Group
During her tenure as creative director of
Elle Macpherson
Eleanor Nancy Macpherson (; née Gow; born ) is an Australian model, businesswoman, television host, and actress.
She is known for her record five cover appearances for the ''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue'' beginning in the 1980s, leading ...
Intimates,
the label was credited as the top fashion underwear brand in Australian and UK department stores.
In 1997 Cohen launched Macpherson Men,
Elle Macpherson's men's underwear label which rapidly achieved commercial success in the Australian and New Zealand markets.
The combined success of both Elle Macpherson Intimates and Macpherson Men prompted Bendon to increase the distribution of the Elle Macpherson underwear brands to the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
.
In 2001 it was announced that the label would be stocked in
Selfridges
Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of high-end department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited, part of the Selfridges Group of department stores. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge ...
and
House of Fraser
House of Fraser (also operating as Frasers) is a British department store group with 44 locations across the United Kingdom, which is now part of Frasers Group. It was established in Glasgow, Scotland in 1849 as Arthur and Fraser. By 1891, it w ...
in their
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
Stores.
In 2002, Cohen relaunched Expozay,
a swimwear label employing
Sophie Monk
Sophie Charlene Akland Monk (born 14 December 1979) is an Australian singer, actress, model, and television personality. She was a member of the pop girl group Bardot, winners of the first season of '' Popstars Australia'' in 2000, and later r ...
, an Australian actress/model, as brand ambassador.
(Cohen later worked with Monk for the launch of the Biofit Bra). Cohen's Expozay swim launch in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
New Zealand also featured
Jennifer Hawkins
Jennifer Hawkins (born 22 December 1983) is an Australian model, television presenter and beauty queen best known for being crowned Miss Universe Australia and later the same year Miss Universe 2004. She was the host of ''Australia's Next Top ...
two years before Hawkins won the
Miss Universe
Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...
title.
In 2002 after the Bendon group was acquired by the Pacific Retail Group, Cohen was identified as the most likely successor to the incumbent CEO. Cohen remained in a design capacity as she was headhunted and relocated to Australia in early 2003
to head creative direction for the
Berlei
Berlei is a brand of women's lingerie and in particular bras and girdles.
History
The company began in Sydney in 1910. The Berlei brand originated in 1917. Berlei undergarments are now sold in Australia by Hanesbrands and in the United King ...
Group, comprising brands: Berlei,
Formfit, Hestia, Playtex and
Wonderbra
The Wonderbra is a type of push-up underwire brassiere that gained worldwide prominence in the 1990s. Although the Wonderbra name was first trademarked in the U.S. in 1955, the brand was developed in Canada. Moses (Moe) Nadler, founder and major ...
.
Within 6 months Cohen had become disillusioned by the prospect of putting new blood into old brands.
Cohen perceived a niche in Lingerie design: a fusion of fashion, fit and function. By early April 2004 reports of an
Australian Fashion Week
Australian Fashion Week, formerly Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia (MBFWA) and Afterpay Australian Fashion Week (AAFW), is an annual fashion industry event, or fashion week, showcasing the latest seasonal collections from Australian desig ...
launch of Cohen's new luxury lingerie brand Pleasure State began to appear.
Pleasure State
Cohen Launched Pleasure State at the Mercedes Australian Fashion Week 2004 in Sydney,
with local fashion media voting Pleasure State as one of the top 10 shows of the 2004 Fashion week.
Prior to launch the brand had been picked up by Australian department store
David Jones and
Harrods
Harrods Limited is a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is currently owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Harrods brand also applies to other ...
, Selfridges,
Bentalls
Bentalls is a British department store chain with a branch in Kingston upon Thames. The well regarded 'county' department store began as a drapery shop, founded by Frank Bentall in 1867. The company was formerly listed on the London Stock Exchang ...
, Liberty and House of Fraser in the United Kingdom.
Fashion Week Launch Collection
The initial collection featured vintage French leavers laces
and silks, complemented by the reintroduction of woven fabrics, opposed to traditional knits. The garments were accented with
Swarovski
Swarovski (, ) is an Austrian producer of glass based in Wattens, Austria, and has existed as a family-owned business since its founding in 1895 by Daniel Swarovski.
The company is split into three major industry areas: the Swarovski Crystal ...
crystal details,
and are credited with originating this trend in lingerie design.
The first collection was underpinned by wider bra straps and smooth-line tailoring, which became hallmarks of Pleasure State (now Pleasure State Couture). The fabrics included blends of pure silk with tactel and
lycra
Spandex, Lycra, or elastane is a synthetic fiber known for its exceptional elasticity. It is a polyether-polyurea copolymer that was invented in 1958 by chemist Joseph Shivers at DuPont's Benger Laboratory in Waynesboro, Virginia, US.
The g ...
,
intended to enhance the performance of garments for everyday wearability, which are predominantly sourced from France and Italy.
International Growth
By March 2005 Cohen's label had over 300 stockists globally, including department stores
Galeries Lafayette
The Galeries Lafayette () is an upmarket French department store chain, the biggest in Europe. Its flagship store is on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris but it now operates in a number of other locations in France and othe ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and
Victoria's Secret
Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing, and beauty retailer known for high visibility marketing and branding, starting with a popular catalog and followed by an annual fashion show with supermodels dubbed Angels. As the largest ret ...
.
in the United States. By April of that year Cohen's designs were available in 45 Victoria's Secret stores across the US and was one of only 3 international designer Lingerie brands to be stocked alongside Victoria's Secret product. In November 2005 Cohen's label was available across
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
in 90 Wild Orchid Stores and opened the retailers fashion show at the
Moscow Manege
The Moscow Manege ( rus, Мане́ж, p=mɐˈnʲeʂ, a=Ru-манеж.ogg) is an oblong building along the west side of Manege Square, which was cleared in the 1930s and lies adjacent to Red Square. It is the site of Moscow Design Museum sinc ...
, quickly becoming their best selling brand.
Within 2 Years of the brands launch, Cohen's label was available in 25 countries, and had launched its diffusion line Pleasure State White Label,
renaming the high fashion Pleasure State: Pleasure State Couture. Pleasure State is currently available in 35 Countries
and over 1000 stores globally.
Concurrently the brand shifted its Australian department store distribution to rival retailer
Myer
Myer (stylised MYER, sometimes known as Myers) is an Australia, Australian mid-range to upscale department store chain. It trades in all Australian states and one of Australia's two self-governing territories. Myer retails a broad range of ...
with a national roll out of in store boutiques.
Cohen's designs were further bolstered by celebrities
Jessica Simpson
Jessica Ann Simpson (born July 10, 1980) is an American singer, actress, entrepreneur and philanthropist. After performing in church choirs as a child, Simpson signed with Columbia Records in 1997, aged seventeen. Her debut studio album, '' Swe ...
,
Ashlee Simpson
Ashley Nicolle Ross ( Simpson; born October 3, 1984), known professionally as Ashlee Simpson, is an American singer and actress. The younger sister of singer and actress Jessica Simpson, she began her career as a back-up dancer for her sister ...
(appearing in the garments at the 2006
MTV Australia Music Awards),
Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...
and
Anna Nicole Smith
Anna Nicole Smith (born Vickie Lynn Hogan; November 28, 1967 – February 8, 2007) was an American model, actress, and television personality. Smith started her career as a ''Playboy'' magazine centerfold in May 1992 and won the title of 1993 ...
. By mid-2007 Cohen's label was turning over more than $30 million per annum AUD,
at this time Cohen announced the launch of the Biofit Bra.
Biofit Uplift Bra
Cohen's Biofit uplift bra had the biggest Bra launch in
Limited Brands
Bath & Body Works, Inc. (formerly known as L Brands, Inc., Limited Brands, Inc. and The Limited, Inc.) is an American specialty retail company based in Columbus, Ohio. It owns Bath & Body Works, posted $11.9 billion in revenue in 2021, and was ...
history (Victoria's secret parent company). Cohen's innovation was to engineer a push-up bra customized to each cup size, delivering a graduation of cleavage appropriate to the woman's bust size. Cohen again worked with Sophie Monk
for the Australian Biofit launch, Monk appeared in a music video where she performed Push It, which was mastered by her then fiancée
Benji Madden
Benjamin Levi Madden ( né Combs; born March 11, 1979) is an American musician. He is the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the band Good Charlottefor which he has received various awardsas well as pop rock collaboration the Madden Brother ...
. Due to the agreement with Victoria's secret, Biofit was subsequently renamed Myfit in the Australian Market.
Cohen merged Pleasure State with her former company Bendon in May 2010, and has relinquished her interest in the company.
Silent Assembly
Cohen launched her new brand Silent Assembly in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
at the Mode City Lingerie fair in July 2013.
Silent Assembly is a luxury lingerie label which features Kay Cohen's new bra technology Curvessence, intended to replace underwires.
References
External links
Kay Cohen main websiteKay Cohen Profile Fashion Model Directory
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Kay
1952 births
Living people
Australian fashion designers
Australian women fashion designers
New Zealand emigrants to Australia
People from Levin, New Zealand
Massey University alumni
Alumni of Heriot-Watt University