Quist said is twice as thick as the average pair of Fruit of the Looms.
The princely price is based on the weight of the cotton spandex fabric, which Ms. Quist, who added that more than 48 percent of customers end up making a second purchase. “Our return customer rate is bonkers,” said Ms. Often times these casual conversations lead to a purchase. Do you like them? Are they worth the money?’” Mx. “I’ve had friends come to me asking: ‘I’ve noticed you have ARQ. An online whisper network has formed in which women counsel one another on the properties of the panties. Remarkably, ARQ’s growth seems to be driven largely through word of mouth with a sprinkle of strategic product seeding among slow fashion influencers mixed in. No doubt the pandemic, in which people abandoned their regular clothing in favor of cozy tie-dye sweatsuits and nap dresses, played a role. In 2020, ARQ did $7.5 million in gross sales, compared to $1 million in 2019, Ms. Instead of elastic, the edges are fabric that is folded over and sewn through to create a hem. She attributes ARQ’s comfort and fit to its bound-edge seams, an uncommon finish in underwear. Quist sewed a pair for herself and loved them so much she decided to produce more. The underwear’s uncanny fit was not achieved through rigorous testing. Initially she sold children’s clothing but pivoted to adult undergarments in 2018.
“I was like, ‘No, these look and feel amazing, trust me.’”Ī former ballet teacher, Ms. told me they were ridiculous,” said Abigail Quist, the ARQ founder. “Most of the handful of people I was working with on production in L.A. Like some skivvies-based “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” ARQ has managed to achieve the truly miraculous: a single style of underwear that both conforms to and flatters every body shape. Yet despite the unfashionable silhouette and purple price, ARQ has managed to collect a cult following that pledges utter fealty to the exaggerated intimates based on their formidable coverage, comfort and counterintuitive sex appeal. (The company also offers three styles of bralette, a tank top and a bodysuit in an array of cheerful colors.)Īt $28 per pair, the panties are not exactly budget-friendly. The brand, ARQ, in McMinnville, Ore., sells just one style of nether garments: a borderline parody of granny panties with a rise so steep it inches past the belly button. Okello, who was so sold on the underwear that they have since acquired eight more pairs, paid for completely out of pocket. “I was surprised underwear could be that comfortable right away,” said Mx. Okello agreed, and within two weeks, a recyclable package containing a soft lilac bralette and a matching pair of vertiginously high-waisted panties arrived at their doorstep in Vancouver, British Columbia. In September 2019, Lydia Okello, a content creator who works primarily with slow fashion brands, received an email from a small underwear company offering to send a package of its products, with no pressure to post about them.
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