Lingerie That’s Actually Made for Women: New Brand With a Cult Following Brings its Distinctive Bralettes (and Much More) to Dallas

You’ve heard of athleisure – but have you heard of leisureé? If not, take a stroll through West Village this week and discover it for yourself. Lingerie-meets-active-meets-swimwear brand Lively is hosting its first pop-up shop in Dallas from January 11 to 21.

Launched in April 2016, Lively quickly built a cult following online for making super comfy, yet cool-looking, modern undergarments.

“We can’t call this lingerie, because it’s not evoking what lingerie typically means. It’s not about the push-up, fantasy, lace and ‘for him.’ It’s comfortable, it’s stylish, it’s for us – so we just made up the word leisureé,” says founder Michelle Cordeiro Grant.

Cordeiro Grant was working for Victoria’s Secret when she realized that there was something missing in the lingerie industry.

“I loved how cohesive their messaging was and how that resonated with the audience, but it didn’t resonate for me,” she says. “I wasn’t comfortable in the product anymore. I thought, why can’t we create bras and undies that combine high style and ultimate comfort?”

She took inspiration from herself and women around her to develop Lively. The idea was to take the best elements from sports bras and swimwear and combine them with the most functional elements of lingerie, while keeping a fashion-forward aesthetic.

“We were literally cutting waist bands off of yoga pants and like stapling them to bralettes and our manufacturers were like ‘What is this?’ ” laughs Cordeiro Grant.

The experimentation paid off; Lively’s wide range of unusual-yet-basic bralettes have legions of fans, and now Lively has moved into swimwear and activewear. The company, which is currently e-commerce based, offers options for different body types, and even shows every product on a range of women.

“This is definitely not the easiest product to buy without trying it on, so the first thing we said was ok, no barriers. Free shipping, free returns, stickers in the box – we make it easy as possible

But then we took it a step further and said, ‘Ok, instead of creating a quiz or an app that’s going to tell you what your size is, why don’t we just bring in women from our community of different size ranges and show them in every style.’ ”

You can try on Lively’s bras, swimsuits and activewear IRL at the Lively pop-up in Dallas’ West Village from January 11 to 21. The brand is having a bunch of fun, free community events during its time in Dallas — including a “Brews & Bras” party with Austin Eastciders on opening day, a party with beauty app Cherry on Friday, a party with Bumble on Saturday, and Self-care Sunday with Hand & Stone. See the full list of events here.