Earn Cash Back at Maidenform In 1922, seamstress Ida Rosenthal and shop owner Enid Bissett rebelled against flat-chested designs for women’s undergarment and founded Maidenform to produce flattering dresses that also provided support undergarment such as bras. By midcentury, Maidenform produced more brassieres than any other U.S. manufacturer and held 10 percent market share – producing 12 million bras that each had 20 combinations of size, cup size, color and material cost $15 million each time to produce.
At its height, the company boasted multiple factories: Bayonne in New Jersey; five others across Puerto Rico and two each in Mexico and Dominican Republic; plus one cut-and-sew plant located in Florida and Fayetteville North Carolina where its distribution center could be found.
By 1989, Maidenform had transitioned away from loungewear and sleepwear in favor of daywear like slips and petticoats as daywear, along with garter belts. They even started producing designer Oscar de la Renta lingerie lines under their name; however, its acquisition of NCC Industries (which included Subtract and Flexees bodyshapers), diverted management attention and delayed operations significantly.
HanesBrands – which includes Hanes underwear and sportswear as well as Maidenform undergarment and undergarment brands – announced in July that they were purchasing the Maidenform brand for $583 million, expecting this transaction to become accretive within 12 months of closing. Cumberland County Industrial Park in Cumberland County would become part of HanesBrands North Carolina distribution centers located mainly in Forsyth and Cleveland Counties according to a HanesBrands spokesperson.