Hanging out at Marieyat’s girls-only sleepover

In a culture where the female body is sexualised at every conceivable opportunity, creating underwear for women that resists the male gaze may seem like a Herculean task. But that’s the challenge London-based designer Marie Yat took on when she launched her eponymous lingerie label last year. “We’d like to create a balance between comfort and sensuality. ‘Uncompromised’ means that our customers will not compromise appearance over comfort or vice versa,” Yat told us.

Last week saw the designer put on an off-schedule presentation to debut her latest collection, but models didn’t pose and pout Victoria’s Secret-style, as you might expect from an event designed to debut a line of lingerie. Instead, staging the presentation inside a mock dormitory complete with bunk beds, Yat gave her girls one instruction: do what you want. “There were no set rules for the girls on set,” she explained. “They were free to talk to each other, lie down, look at their phones and take pictures of each other – or even fall asleep.” 

The casting was similarly natural; instead of selecting traditional lingerie models, Yat chose “regular girls”. “Each girl had their own character,” she says, “and a few of them are friends in real life which made the presentation more intimate and honest.” The aim of it all? “We wanted to show how (the pieces) would look in a real-life setting” – which makes a lot of sense if you think about it.

marieyat.com