Maison Lejaby

One of the leading French lingerie and swimwear houses, Maison Lejaby was conceived in the era of the femme fatales - epitomized by the garter belt-clad Marlene Dietrich in the 1930s film Blue Angel.

A young lingerie seamstress, Gabrielle “Gaby” Vinnay, was inspired to leave company she worked for in Lyon and start making her own bras. With the help of her sister and brother-in-law, Marguerite and Marcel Blanchard, she began making bras and lingerie in the back of the cinema they owned. Such was the success of ‘les soutiens-gorge à la Gaby’ that the business was born and soon renamed Lejaby. To this day Gaby remains one of the brand’s best-selling bras.

Always an innovator, Lejaby was one of the first lingerie brands to use Lycra; new owners Maurice and Charles Bugnon negotiated the exclusive use of Lycra in France in the 1960s and the revolutionary Miss Top bra sold 3 million. In the 1970s came the triangle bra and in the 1990s the first use of seam-free microfibre underwear.

More recently came the launch of the brands stunning swimwear range, designed by the former Eres creative director Valérie Delafosse.