140 years of Hanro: how the lingerie brand is celebrating

This October will mark the 140th anniversary of women’s and men’s lingerie, underwear and loungewear brand Hanro after it was founded in Switzerland in October 1884. To mark the milestone the brand is launching a new womenswear capsule collection, which is dropping in a staggered style throughout the year, while a number of pop-ups and artist collaborations are also in the pipeline.

Included in the capsule are two lingerie collections featuring bras, maxi briefs and crop tops. The anniversary styles pay homage to women who have played a pioneering role in society, fashion and culture. These women include German and American actress and singer Marlene Dietrich, French feminist, writer and philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, and Madeleine Handschin, the first female Hanro designer and granddaughter of the brand's founder, Albert Handschin.

In addition, Hanro will launch two loungewear collections featuring trousers, jackets and dresses. Retail prices for lingerie range from £58 for Brazilian-style briefs to £116 for a bra, while loungewear is priced between £128 for trousers and £562 for a cashmere pullover. Various fabrics have also been used to create the collections including 100% cotton, lace, lyocell and cashmere.

The anniversary items are being released in stages, having started in January and running until July, and sold via Hanro’s DTC website and its boutique on Molton Street in London's Mayfair, as well as through UK stockists Harrods and Selfridges.

The brand currently boasts 13 flagship stores worldwide, in cities such as London, New York, Beverly Hills, Dubai, Amsterdam, Rome, Munich, Vienna and Gstaad.

Here CEO Stephan Hohmann shares what customers can expect from the brand's anniversary and how it is strengthening its luxury positioning in the lingerie market, as well as the challenges it is facing, such a decline in demand for department stores.

To mark 40 years Hanro is launching two lingerie and loungewear collections

How will you be celebrating the 140th anniversary?

Under the motto "the touch of luxury", we will celebrate Hanro’s birthday throughout the year. In addition to exclusive, limited collections, we are planning a number of 360-degree campaigns. This includes an influencer trip in April to the annual tennis tournament Rolex Monte Carlo Masters with eight international content creators to create awareness for our main “Tie-Break” campaign. We also have department store pop-ups planned during the anniversary year, as well as events and brand and artist collaborations [to be announced at a later date].

Can you share a brief history of the brand?

In 1884, the brand's founders Albert Handschin and Carl Ronus opened a knitwear factory in the Swiss town of Liestal, naming it Hanro. The vision was to create lingerie made of natural fibres, that were soft and comfortable to wear, for the elegant, modern woman of the times. As pioneers in the field of circular knitting [a form of knitting that creates a seamless tube], they manufactured top quality undergarments on specially developed machines.

Right from the early days, the company focused on high quality, natural fibres such as long staple cotton [cottons that fray, pill, wrinkle and fade less than fabrics made compared with short-staple cotton].

In the 1980s, Hanro proved itself to be a pioneer of a new wellness-inspired aesthetic. "Back to classics" was [and still is] Hanro’s motto as it launched tops made from the finest mercerised cotton [a chemical treatment added to cotton which is formed by passing threads under tension through a cold solution of 20% caustic soda].

Plus, the "cotton seamless" spaghetti top [camisole], worn by Nicole Kidman in the 1999 movie Eyes Wide Shut, became a bestseller with international cult status [following the film's release]. Decades of tradition combined with technical innovation and timeless design make Hanro a desirable and distinct brand.

Who are the women that inspired the anniversary collection?

The anniversary collection pays homage to the women – who have always been at the heart of Hanro. Accordingly, the anniversary styles are named after strong women who have played a pioneering role in society, fashion, politics, science and culture.

For example, Madeleine Handschin was the first female Hanro designer and granddaughter of the company's founder. She symbolises the central role of women at Hanro. Or the French feminist, writer and philosopher Simone de Beauvoir [who] is considered a representative of existentialism, and German and American actress and singer Marlene Dietric.

Prices range from £58 for Brazilian-style briefs to £562 for a cashmere pullover

What efforts have you made to ensure the new collection is made sustainably?

From spinning the yarn, to our in-house fabric production, to sewing the finished product in our own facilities – Hanro has always had its entire supply chain in Europe. The yarn and fabric do not travel halfway around the world until after they are processed into Hanro products [and sent to stores and customers]. From the textile production in Vorarlberg, Austria, to the sewing factory in Portugal, to the warehouse in Hungary, we have shorter transportation routes resulting in a smaller carbon footprint [than brands with far-reaching supply chains].

For example, we don’t have to use an airplane to ship our goods around the world during the production process. We ship the fabrics from Austria to our sewing factory in Portugal and from the sewing factory in Portugal to our warehouse in Hungary with trucks.

In addition to the European production, our in-house design and product development teams [based in Austria] ensure our products have the highest quality. Quality is one of our most important characteristics we look for when choosing a fabric for our products. We only use very high quality long staple cotton, which is extremely durable. Our special soft mercerisation finish gives the cotton a silk-like sheen, outstanding color brilliance, and a high tensile strength.

We also have our own in-house quality control department, which checks the fabrics through washing tests [which evaluate the colorfastness and durability of fabrics] and stress tests [a force used to elongate and break a sample].

Where are items manufactured?

Hanro products are made in Europe [including the design department and textile production in Austria, sewing factory in Portugal and warehouse in Hungary] and are Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certified [a label that certifies that every component of the product, from the fabric to the thread and accessories, has been rigorously tested against a list of up to 350 toxic chemicals]. 80% of fabrics are produced in Vorarlberg, Austria in the company’s own fabric production facility [the remining 20% is produced by a supplier nearby Hanro’s HQ in Austria, called Getzner Textil]. Manufacturing takes place at the company’s sewing factory in Portugal.

What key challenges do you anticipate in 2024?

The main challenge is the instability of the department store business. Especially in Germany, many department stores are struggling at the moment – some of them have had to close their doors [in March 2023 German department store Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof announced it will close down 52 of its 129 stores].

So, we have to find new ways and touchpoints to distribute our products. In Scandinavia, for example, we have expanded our stockists to include My Favourite Things, H66 Tisvilde og Mille, Illums Bolighus (in Copenhagen, Lyngby, Waterfront and Frederiksberg), and Hotel Skodsborg (where items can be found in the hotel's shop). You can find our products in a lot of fashion boutiques, not only lingerie boutiques, which is how we are mitigating this challenge.

We are also launching a luxurious capsule collection for AW24, which should strengthen our luxury positioning.