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Canadian product, 1964 to 1980

Source: Canadian government industry statistics. N.B., during the period sales figures were compiled by Industry Canada, panties were considered "lingerie," rather than so-called "foundation undergarments" and are not part of this data set.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the majority of women were still wearing highly-structured undergarments.^[10] Girdles were considered the ladylike norm and represented close to 40% of industry sales by volume. The 1960s also brought to Canadian Lady the challenges of feminism, fashions and the sexual revolution. The feminist movement—cultured by thought leaders like Betty Friedan and Germaine Greer—questioned the mores that defined women’s roles and appearance. Changes in fashion trends, such as pantyhose and the rise of the miniskirt, rendered the girdle unattractive and obsolete to a generation of women.^[11] While the intimate apparel industry fretted about bra-burning as a precursor to the decline of all foundation garment sales, women reserved their animosity for their girdles. The Canadian sales data for foundation undergarments, from 1960 to 1971, vividly demonstrates the shift in tastes.

It was against this backdrop that the Canadian Lady Corset Company had to act. In 1964, Moe Nadler died and his son, Larry Nadler inherited control of the company.^[12] Larry Nadler was a Harvard-trained MBA and brought modern marketing strategies to the industry.^[13] He commissioned market research that identified women's feelings about intimate apparel. Women did not hate their bras. Rather, they saw bras as a means to feel and look beautiful, to be fashionable and sexy, and to attract men. While women sometimes went bra-less, they were making a fashion choice and not a political statement. Canadian Lady's management knew that girdles were out, but bras would remain an essential part of women's wardrobes. So during the 1960s, while competitors were cutting back on their bra marketing and diversifying into other products, Canadian Lady aggressively pursued bra market share.^[14]

Later, Larry Nadler identified an age based bifurcation in the market. Younger women (aged 15 to 20) regarded their bras as an enhancement to their sexuality but were not interested in a heavily structured garment.^[15] Nadler learned that women wanted "less bra," not "no bra."^[14] In 1974, they introduced a new line of brassieres for teens called Dici (by Wonderbra), and invented new hot fabric molding technologies to shape the cup.^[16] These bras were seamless and simply designed with less support than the typical bra of the period. The company designed special packaging in the shape of a die (with holes).^[17]

Source from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki