Minister's hands-on role
Rural Communities Minister Mark Patterson, who farms at Lawrence in Otago, has personally been actively involved in assessing the situation in his region.
According to experts, wearing a correctly fitted bra is essential to maintain good posture and prevent back and shoulder pain, particularly for those in active work roles.
Rose & Thorne’s digital model connects women with professional bra fitters via live online consultations, allowing them to receive personalised sizing advice without the need for in-person fittings, which are often unavailable locally.
Rich Carey, Rose & Thorne general manager, says that rural women often face challenges in finding correctly fitted bras due to limited retail options in small towns.
“Women in urban centres have the advantage of instore fittings and access to a variety of brands and sizes, but rural women are often left with few choices,” Carey says.
He says the virtual fitting service will ensure those women have expert support from the comfort of their homes.
“Whether they’re on a farm in Otago, a station in the outback, or simply living far from major shopping centres, they can access personalised advice and a full range of sizes without compromise,” he says.
Carey says that if a physical lingerie store were opened in a rural area, it would need to stock more than 70 sizes in each bra style, something he says is not viable for most retailers.
“Our digital model removes those barriers, allowing us to offer a complete size curve, including hard-to-find sizes like 24K,” he adds.
Carey says that many rural women have gone without correctly fitted bras for years.
“Our online tools, combined with live virtual fittings, are making high-quality, supportive lingerie more accessible than ever.”
The company recently launched K-cup sized bras into their range, extending their size curve from 10C to 24K and is currently developing larger sizes.
“Over 60% of our K-cup sales have been in size 18 or up backs, and our best-selling K-cup size is 24K, which shows just how underserved this segment has been,” Carey says.
“With over 18 months of development, we have refined this new size to the point where less than a tenth of products purchased online are exchanged,” he says.
According to Carey, the New Zealand bra market is valued at $254 million and is growing at a rate of 3% each year.
He says that unlike many lingerie brands, which rely on traditional retail partnerships, Rose & Thorne’s digital-only model allows the company to offer a broader range of sizes while creating the operating efficiency and inventories needed to service the trans-Tasman rural market.
Carey says the move to a digital model is designed to help the company target a market segment that prefers not to shop for lingerie in-store or who live too far away to access a selection that meets their individual needs.
“We are seeing significant growth opportunity in key market segments, including rural areas, and are now focused on educating the market around our range of products for those needing larger cup or back sizes and the fitting tools we have available to them, such as live online fittings,” he says.
