Conte Lingerie

02 November 2016

For 2016, one of the largest legwear manufacturers in the CIS, Belarus' Conte Spa, is launching a new brand, Conte Lingerie. Intimoda spoke to Conte Spa's Co-Owner, Valentin Baiko, about this new project.

Tell us about your new brand, Conte Lingerie. Why did you decide to create it?
The idea of going in a new direction – corsetry production – was born a few years ago, when we were thinking about expanding our product portfolio. Our goal is to provide a wide offer of hosiery, underwear and knitwear for the whole family, but especially for women, as they are more likely to indulge themselves through shopping. Our offer lacked lingerie. When market conditions were right, we assembled a team of professional experts in this sector, and the Conte Lingerie brand was born.
Conte is one of the largest manufacturers of legwear, but it had no facilities for lingerie. How did you organize the production process?
One year ago, the company did not have facilities for lingerie production – but we do now! We have significantly changed our production base in the western Belarusian city of Grodno; moved knitwear and corsetry production to new locations; and bought a new cutting unit. We also acquired additional production plants in Belarus, which are fully fitted with the latest manufacturing equipment.
Italy's Calzedonia’s serves as an example of a company that successfully developed two, parallel segments – legwear and underwear. Do you want to go in that direction?
We are closely watching the Calzedonia Group, but their business is very difficult to repeat. We are not trying to copy Calzedonia, but we understand that lingerie complements our company’s product portfolio very well. For us, this is a good opportunity to give additional impetus to the business, and to offset hosiery's inherent seasonality. We expect that women who shop for tights and stockings in the autumn and winter will buy lingerie and swimwear in the spring and summer. Since Conte stores lacked such a range, we developed one independently and with our trade partners in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.
Please tell us more about your first collection.
First of all, we started by creating a permanent collection of basic models that should be in every woman’s wardrobe. The main goal is to offer cuts that fit perfectly, providing support and comfort in all sizes – from petite to plus-size. The use of high-quality material is also a very important factor in the production of larger sized cups – we offer up to 110 G and 95 H-I-J. That is why we use fabrics with excellent functional properties and – above all – are from European suppliers with a proven track record.
We will create from five-to-ten models with different structures, but the same style and set of materials. In this way, consumers can choose items that respond to their personal preferences. Our collection is still in development, which we plan to continue throughout 2017, offering a variety of solutions for both design and construction, as well as for different target consumers. We have already developed a swimwear line for 2017, and in the future we plan to launch knitwear, as well as homewear, by Conte Lingerie. Conte is widely known for the high quality of its products, a tradition which we now take in new directions, such as these recent developments.

What is the brand's retail price positioning?
We aim to be in the mid-range price segment, offering optimal value for money.
Which markets are you targeting, outside Belarus?
We do not limit ourselves to specific geographic markets. We will sell it, wherever it can be sold. The Conte brand is widely known in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Moldova. Without a doubt, it will be easier to launch the new range of Conte Lingerie in these countries, but we already have demands for our lingerie collection from other countries where our agents operate successfully, and who know who is developing Conte Lingerie. This shows the power of Conte in developing distribution with the support of their trading partners.
Where do you plan to sell your product? Don’t you think that there is a certain oversupply of lingerie on the market and that competition is very high?
Of course, we pay much attention to where we want to see Conte Lingerie. Our product is quite complex; it requires fitting and counseling. That is why retail is our priority – locations where women will feel good while shopping: Conte-brand stores, partner stores, multibrand shops, other shops and corners.
Indeed, there is already a vast offer in lingerie stores, but, at closer look, there is not much lingerie available at our level: well-crafted in terms of cut; carefully selected materials; and an uncompromising approach to high-quality production. Consumers always appreciate quality, no matter how difficult the economic situation. We hope that when women try our products once, they will become grateful and loyal customers.
How do you envision Conte Lingerie's future?
We are very ambitious. We see ourselves as a major player in the corsetry, swimwear and knitwear market in the next five years. We have everything we need to do this: a well-known brand; qualified people; financial and productive resources; an established reputation; a clear development strategy; and the strong desire to translate our plans into practice. We put a lot of energy and soul into our production; we love our product and hope that our female customers will love it too.