TOP DRAWER

Forget push-up bras and restrictive corsetry – these two brands will help you upgrade your lingerie drawer without compromising on comfort. Think lacy thongs, embroidered bralettes and mesh ‘bum clouds’…

- SIMAMKELE MBANGA & CHARIS TORRANCE

LUNA INTIMATES

MIANCA TEIFEL

STARTUP COSTS: ‘My mom gave me her old sewing machine when I started creating bralettes,’ says Mianca. ‘We’ve grown so much since that we were able to acquire more sewing machines and an embroidery machine.’

TURNOVER: ‘The growth of Luna has been overwhelming and so incredible to witness. Our sales have tripled every year since we started. What began as a side project has turned into an ever-growing business.’

‘I ’ve always loved the ability of lingerie to make you feel powerful – it’s a secret confidence booster you put on just for yourself,’ says Mianca Teifel, founder of Luna Intimates. With a degree in Fine Arts from Stellenbosch University, she’d planned to become a painter, but then her side hustle took off. Luna Intimates got going while Mianca was studying.

‘At that stage I had no idea it would grow into a full-time career and business,’ she says. ‘But I knew I wanted to work for myself. It’s like nothing else, starting a business from scratch and watching it grow. Seeing people fall in love with something you dreamed up is so rewarding. It makes all the hard work and stumbles worth it.’

Mianca’s mother is a seamstress and the one who taught her to sew. ‘She’s recently joined the Luna team full-time, and it’s an absolute dream to work with the woman who shaped me into the girl boss I am today.’

‘Luna’ is Latin for moon. ‘In Roman mythology, Luna is the divine embodiment of the moon,’ says Mianca. ‘She’s often presented as a goddess who is the female complement of the sun. In some stories she is portrayed as Queen of the Stars, an image I am especially fond of.’