Nala: The Inclusive Underwear Brand That Flipped the Industry Script
For most of its history, the intimates industry has sold a very specific fantasy. Ultra-smooth skin, ultra-thin waists, and model features were not treated as one aesthetic option among many— they were treated as the default body type lingerie was meant to sit on, and everyone else was expected to adapt in silence. Nala, founded by Chloe and Phillip de Winter in Melbourne in 2022, went in the opposite direction entirely.
In an oversaturated category, plenty of brands still lean on the same old restrictive message: "sexy" looks like one body type, and if yours doesn't match it, that's between you and the mirror. Calvin Klein's 2019 "I Speak My Truth in #MyCalvins" campaign is a clean snapshot of the broader playbook; it used a virtual influencer alongside Bella Hadid to sell under
wear as some kind of aspirational sensuality, generated controversy about representation, and helped cement a visual style that a lot of competitors simply copied. The product is underwear; the sell is status.
What an Inclusive Underwear Brand Actually Looks Like
Nala launched with a straightforward premise: real bodies, real sizing, real diversity. That sounds simple, but most brands avoid doing it consistently because it changes the whole shopping interface. It is not a one-off campaign theme that appears once and disappears when the feed moves on— it is the default imagery, the sizing language, the way products are explained, and the way customers are expected to find their fit without feeling like they are the problem.
The difference shows up in small, practical cues. Nala's models span a genuine range of shapes, sizes, and styles rather than a carefully curated "inclusive" set that still looks like one ideal with minor variations. The styling does not rely on the old trick of using one body type to make every set look effortless. Product descriptions lean into confidence and comfort without implying those are rewards reserved for a particular kind of body. The overall effect is a shopping experience that does not require customers to mentally opt out of their own appearance before they can enjoy what they are buying.
Being an inclusive underwear brand goes beyond visuals. Sizing is where most brands quietly lose people in intimates, because lingerie is unforgiving when sizing communication is vague. A lot of brands present a size chart as a solution while still assuming one default set of proportions, then act surprised when real bodies do not behave like a pattern block. Nala offers 80 bra sizes across its range, and its sizing guide is illustrated by the same diverse range of models shown across the site — which makes it functional rather than decorative, because the visuals and the guidance line up rather than telling two different stories at once. Nala's co-founder Chloe de Winter vocalised this perfectly: "it’s tokenistic to have inclusive marketing but then not back it up with product decisions that support those customer types."
What the Industry Learns When This Works
The commercial results are not subtle. Nala has sold over 400,000 pieces in four years, caught the attention of major Australian retailer David Jones, and grown by over 180% year-on-year. Other brands have started borrowing the approach— the fact that Nala's Fit Guide 2.0 showing real women's chests is now described as part of a "Nala Playbook" tells its own story. None of this was technically difficult, it just was not prioritised.
With success comes scrutiny, and the controversies have been revealing. A 2025 campaign featuring an influencer with breast implants drew criticism for promoting unrealistic bodies— Nala's response was that all bodies deserve representation. A social media post was taken down over visible nipples, which says more about platform censorship than it does about anything else. Neither moment dented the brand's reputation-- quite the opposite. The willingness to hold its position under pressure is consistent with what Nala says it stands for. What the criticism also demonstrated is how quickly bodies get policed even inside "inclusive" spaces— how fast inclusion becomes conditional the moment someone decides a body is the "wrong kind" of real.
The intimates category has spent decades implying that confidence is something people earn by fitting a narrow physical standard. Nala's growth suggests that was always more about what the industry felt comfortable presenting as desirable than about what customers actually wanted— and that serving the full range of bodies it was already selling to was never as complicated as the industry made it look.
Learn more about Nala on their website: https://wearnala.com/
Index:MH sets measurable standards for how the beauty and fashion industry affects consumer mental health. To find out more about our work or to nominate a brand that's getting it right, check out our website indexmh.org or IG @index_mh, or get in touch via email brea@indexmh.org
