re’s something in this. Let’s just make [women’s underwear] already’,” Taylor told
Inside Retail.
The process was easier said than done.
Taylor emailed everyone who had asked the brand to make women’s underwear to find out what they were looking for.
“I wish we’d gotten a bit more of a brief,” he said. “It was literally, ‘Just take the pouch out’.”
In the end, the product design required further tweaking.
“We gave them some samples, and they said, ‘This is wrong, that’s wrong, this is too short, this is in the wrong spot, there’s a seam here that shouldn’t be here’,” Taylor recalled.
“I was like, ‘OK, it’s not just taking the pouch out’.”
New fit models needed
After developing dozens of different prototypes, Step One landed on a boxer style made out of the same organically grown, FSC-certified bamboo fabric as its men’s underwear, including the brand’s signature panels on the inner thighs to combat chafing.
But the brand faced other hurdles. Whereas Taylor used to check the fit of Step One underwear himself, by trying on samples at the factory, he had to take a different approach with the women’s line.
“The first bit of advice, if you’re trying to design a pair of women’s underwear, use women,” he said.
Taylor deliberately sought out women with a wide range of body shapes and sizes.
“Like men, no two women are the same. Women are shaped differently, and men are shaped differently, and to cater for all shapes and sizes is a really difficult thing to do. I wouldn’t underestimate that,” he said.
Step One officially launched its women’s underwear line in Australia and the UK last weekend, in seven colours and sizes, from XS-XXXL. It expects to launch the line in the US later this year.
While it’s still early days, Taylor said the brand has already received thousands of comments from customers and that they’ve been overwhelmingly positive. This should boost Step One’s revenue in FY22, which – prior to the launch of the women’s line – was expected to be around $74 million.
“If it’s a good product and the feedback is good from the go-get, then ultimately, that’s going to flow into your revenue,” he said.
One packs, not six packs
Taylor started Step One in 2017 after wearing a pair of poorly designed underwear on a hiking trip in New Zealand that caused uncomfortable chafing.
“I thought, ‘I can fix this’,” he said.
His attempt to improve basic men’s boxers involved using bamboo fabric to provide breathability and moisture-wicking, special fabric panels on the inner thighs to prevent ride-up and chafing and a 3D ‘comfort pouch’ with hidden elastic stitching to create the perfect fit.
But even though he believed he had a superior product, he wasn’t sure the startup would succeed.
“I launched with four sizes, and I deliberately ordered more XL because I’m an XL, and I was like, ‘If this goes belly up, then at least I’ve got good underwear for the rest of my life’,” he said.
It’s clear now that that’s not what happened. Step One took off, not only due to its innovative design features, but also its irreverent television ads starring Kiwi actor Lawrence Ola, which struck a chord with consumers. Perhaps because they saw themselves in the stocky comic.
“We’re not about six packs. I think people think that’s refreshing,” Taylor said. “They think, ‘I can actually relate to that. You’re the first company that’s ever put someone on TV with a one pack’.”
Last year, Taylor raised over $80 million in an IPO through the issue of new shares and partial selldown of his 100 per cent stake in the company. The company listed on the ASX in October 2021 is now valued at $250 million.
“I couldn’t beg, borrow, or steal $20,000 to start with. People thought I was nuts,” Taylor recalled. “I think it goes to show if you truly believe in something, you can do anything.”
