A Look at Aimer’s New Moves and the Industry’s “Second Curve”

Recently, Aimer introduced a new positioning concept—“fashionable underwear”—which has sparked significant discussion across the industry.

At the same time, many lingerie companies are beginning to reassess their market positioning. It is not that they are failing, nor that they have reached a dead end. Rather, the traditional path of steady growth is no longer sufficient.

From a functional perspective, product features have become highly homogenized, making differentiation increasingly difficult. Channel advantages are weakening, while traffic acquisition costs continue to rise. Price competition has reached its limits, compressing profit margins. Meanwhile, consumers now have more choices than ever, and brand mindshare is becoming increasingly fragmented.

The industry itself is still evolving, but relying on traditional strategies to ensure growth is becoming increasingly challenging.

Against this backdrop, the concept of the “second curve” has become unavoidable.

01 The First Curve: Underwear as a Category

Over the past few decades, the first growth curve of the lingerie industry has been centered around the category of “underwear.” Its core logic includes:

• Expansion of distribution channels and retail networks

• Optimization of structural design and sizing systems

• Functional differentiation (support, shaping, comfort)

• Price segmentation and value-for-money competition

This curve has also gone through several phases of evolution—from “sexy shaping” to “comfort-driven design.” However, these changes have largely remained within the established boundaries of the underwear category.

Over the past five years, the “comfort revolution” has largely completed its role in market education. Wire-free, unrestricted, and lightweight support designs have become mainstream expectations. Consumers’ demand for comfort has been widely satisfied.

Once a feature becomes standard, it ceases to be a competitive advantage.

This means that while the first curve is still operating, it is gradually losing its growth momentum.

02 The Second Curve: Redefining Product Boundaries

The second curve is not about improving existing products, but about redefining the boundaries of the category itself.

In the lingerie industry, this shift is unfolding along multiple directions.

Take Aimer as an example. Its concept of “fashionable underwear” essentially blurs the boundary between lingerie and outerwear.

This is not merely about adding design elements to underwear. Instead, it transforms lingerie from something hidden underneath into something that can be styled, displayed, and used as part of an overall outfit.

This represents a typical “upward extension”—moving from functional products to expressive ones, and from innerwear to visible fashion. At its core, this reflects a shift in female consumer logic: comfort is now expected, while self-expression is becoming the new demand.

This is a pathway toward aesthetic premiumization.

Another direction is expansion into lifestyle scenarios.

For example, Interfilière Shanghai exhibitor Kunshan Tengfei Technology, with nearly 30 years of industry experience, has extended its business beyond apparel into home furnishing products. This represents a horizontal expansion, where fabric technology, pattern-making expertise, and supply chain capabilities are applied to broader lifestyle contexts.

This involves extending the technology and experience of lingerie to home products.

A third direction focuses on scenario-based expansion from a brand perspective.

For instance, the emerging designer brand Daren Tang has extended from adult products into lingerie. This is not simply an expansion of SKUs, but an attempt to build a closed-loop experience around intimate relationships.

In this approach, products are no longer standalone items—they become part of a broader experiential system.

03 The Underlying Logic of the Second Curve

Whether extending upward, outward, or into new scenarios, these strategies share a common foundation:

• Brands are redefining what business they are truly in.

• During the first curve, companies operated strictly within the lingerie category. In the second curve, they are beginning to operate within broader domains such as body experience, lifestyle, and even relationship dynamics.

Future competition will not only be about size ranges or pricing, but about who better understands how modern women perceive their bodies.

It is important to note that the second curve is not exclusive to high-performing brands.

In classical business strategy theory, the second curve is often described as a proactive growth engine developed at a company’s peak. However, in reality, it often emerges from pressure and uncertainty.

When growth slows, market share declines, and consumer perception shifts, companies are forced to reassess their boundaries.

In this sense, the second curve is not a reward for success—it is a mechanism for survival.

It may not take the form of large-scale transformation. Instead, it can appear as small-scale experimentation, secondary product lines, or scenario testing.

What matters is not the scale, but the direction.

04 The Window of Opportunity

Women’s consumption culture is shifting from “body liberation” to “body expression and scenario expansion.”

This transition elevates the lingerie industry beyond a subcategory of apparel, turning it into a key node within the broader body-consumption ecosystem.

The second curve may take many forms—fashion-oriented, lifestyle-driven, scenario-based, or entirely new directions yet to be defined.

What they share is a recognition that category boundaries are no longer fixed.

When the certainty of the first curve declines, the second curve inevitably emerges.

Just as comfort was once a revolution, it has now become a baseline requirement.

When a bra has achieved optimal fit and function, consumers begin to ask a new question:

What else can a bra be?

The answer to this question will shape the industry over the next five years.

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