Bluebella lingerie nets £1m funding for expansion in US

Roger Taylor's model daughter Tigerlily is the body of Bluebella

A fast-growing London lingerie brand which designed a Fifty Shades of Grey-inspired “bondage collection” has raised more than £1 million for an ambitious push into America.

Chiswick-based Bluebella, which is promoted by Queen drummer Roger Taylor’s model daughter Tigerlily Taylor, had been aiming for £500,000 when it asked for backing on crowdfunding website Crowdcube.

Founder and chief executive Emily Bendell said she was “thrilled to have doubled our target” and that “the extra investment will allow us to push forward with exciting plans for the US and other foreign territories”.

The extra money — and the label’s London credentials — would allow it to drive into the US market “harder and faster” than originally planned.

Ms Bendell, who studied PPE at Magdalen College, Oxford, and lives in Hackney, said: “We see ourselves as a London brand more than as a British brand. Bluebella girls love fashion, are in their mid-twenties and tend to live in the big cities. A girl in London probably has more in common with a girl in New York than girls in lots of other parts of her own country.

“Increasingly in America, there is a market for brands with a London heritage and tone of voice. We all live in London and get inspired by the city in many of the things we design.”

About 20 per cent of online sales are already from US customers on the back of social media exposure.

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Ms Bendell said the investment will allow the label to raise its profile in America through direct marketing and PR to reach its target of selling 10,000 bras a month.

“I am convinced American consumer appetite will be strong for our products and, with Brexit, it is important companies diversify so they are not solely stocked in the UK,” she said.

Bluebella was on target for sales of £1.7 million this year and £4.7 million next year, helped by the US expansion, she added.

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