My light bulb moment: Brie Read reveals inspiration of tights business

My light bulb moment: Entrepreneur Brie Read reveals how doing the ‘tights dance’ inspired her to start a business

  • Brie Read, 37, who lives in Edinburgh, launched hosiery brand Snag last year
  • She raised £130,000 seed money from family and friends, and Snag was born
  • The tights were made in an Italian factory and go from a size four to 28+

Last April, Brie Read, 37, launched hosiery brand Snag, selling tights for ‘every size and every shape’. A year on, it is celebrating sales of £2.3 million. Single, she lives in Edinburgh.

I was walking down Edinburgh’s posh George Street one day when my tights began to sag. I was doing ‘tights dancing’, struggling to pull them back up. Eventually I bent down, picked them up off the street, then took them off and put them in my bag.

I talked to friends and realised it wasn’t just me. Everyone had the same problem finding tights that fitted, whatever their size. I carried out a survey of 2,000 women. Nine out of ten said their tights didn’t fit properly, while seven out of ten said that, if they did, their lives would be ‘fundamentally better’.

Brie Read, 37, pictured, launched hosiery brand Snag last year which sells tights for ‘every size and every shape’of woman

I bought every supermarket range and measured them. To my astonishment I found that although tights come in small, medium and large, they aren’t different widths, just different lengths.

I’m a numbers nerd. I studied psychology and computer science, worked as a marketing data analyst with Sainsbury’s and People’s Postcode Lottery, and was chief executive of meal service Diet Chef.

So when it came to tights, I knew there was a gap in the market. I raised £130,000 seed money from family and friends, and Snag was born.

I spent a year finding the right people to make the tights. We use a factory in Italy. For the bigger tights they had to innovate new production methods, and bring old machines out of retirement for the smaller ones.

The tights, pictured on models, go from size 4 to 28+ and are made in an Italian factory 

We use a very good blend of fibres. The difference is in the way we structure the width, the soft seams, and the design of the waistband, which stays put.

Our tights go from size 4 to 28+. Our guide steers customers toward their correct size based on height, dress size and body shape.

Our tights are eco-friendly. The dye house is carbon neutral and deliveries use recycled paper.

We’ve sold 350,000 pairs in 25 countries. Many customers are doctors, nurses and teachers, on their feet all day, and being able to wear fitting tights has changed their lives. Many say it’s the first time they’ve felt comfortable wearing a dress or a skirt.

I was humiliated when my tights fell down, but now I’m really glad it happened. 

Source: Read Full Article