PROFILE: Aliza Reger
I am Aliza Reger and I have grown up with the Janet Reger Brand which was founded by my mother Janet Reger in the early 1960’s. I live and breath beautiful lingerie everyday and have developed and moved the Brand forward into a new century.
What inspired you to become a lingerie designer?
There was never a question of doing anything else and I worked alongside my mother from an early age, indeed – I started gift wrapping and doing odd jobs from the age of about 10 years old. I have carried on the business as I love beautiful Lingerie, I am constantly inspired by all sorts of influences from Cities to trends or current moods.
What makes your designs different from others?
This is the million $ question. Janet Reger was the pioneer of beautiful, matching coloured lingerie that was fashion led and was a first of the kind. Today our experience and skill in bias cutting, colour and fit as well as the beautiful styling and exquisite details set us far above the rest in terms of quality and design.
Are there any celebrities wearing your designs and who are they?
How many do you want? From British Royalty such as Princesses Margaret and Anne, The Princess of Wales, Pop Princesses such as Tina Turner, Madonna and Britney to Hollywood Royalty such as Catherine Zeta Jones, Katie Holmes, Uma Thurman and Keira Knightly to Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie.
Do you wear your own products?
ABSOLUTELY – I have been known to ’slum it in a bit of La Perla or Dior and will wear the occasional t-shirt bra from a very well known US lingerie group but my Janet Reger lingerie is what I wear all the time and I love to wear as much of it as I can as outerwear, camis as tops, minislips with cardicans and jeans and silk slips as a skirt with a cool t-shirt.
What’s your favourite lingerie brand (not your own!) and why?
I have to admit admiring La Perla hugely, their things are beautifully made and so beautiful but in a more classic way then ours. I also love Chantal Thomas but then Janet Reger is a similar type of Brand and having met Mde Thomas on many occasions I love what she does.
Do you think there’s enough choice for D+ sizes?
I think the choice gets ever better – Janet Reger Couture is available up to a size DD and in our diffusion range – REGER by Janet Reger we go up to a G cup
Are you happy with the way lingerie is sized? If not what changes would you like to see?
You cannot please everyone all of the time and I would recommend that people try on wherever possible…sizes do vary but that is true of everything from dresses to Shoes. It would make the export world a much simpler place if lingerie sizing was uniform across the various countries, Germany, France, Italy and UK all use different sizing which can be very confusing.
What advice would to give to an aspiring lingerie/swimwear designer?
Get yourself a good accountancy package and a plenty of financial backing.
How do you get your inspirations for new collections?
Trend, Zeitgeist, places, people and the fabrics which we source months before a collection – Movies such as Young Victoria, Atonement and Cabaret have been influences on the collections.
How do you find new and different materials to use?
We go to various fabric shows and Interfilliere in Paris
What would you be doing if you weren’t a designer?
I would be a Domestic Goddess or sitting on a beach doing nothing and playing the occasional game of tennis.
What are you working on right now?
We are working full out on AW10 sales and marketting and we are already starting to collect ideas for SS11
What makes a great lingerie model?
Confidence, warmth and of course a great body with no blemishes or tattoos.
