BETHLEHEM, Pa. — It's National Shapewear Day, and one local third-generation-owned manufacturer has supported women of all shapes and sizes since the end of World War II.
Cupid Foundations Inc., once known as the Allentown Corset Corporation with manufacturing at one time in Allentown and Bethlehem, still is rooted in Bethlehem.
Also known as Cupid Intimates, its design studio in 1987 opened in a brick building at 1005B W. Lehigh St., Bethlehem, near the southern end of Eighth Avenue.
But its corporate offices now are in Manhattan, and its manufacturing in Central America and Blackwell, Oklahoma.
Cupid's shapewear is sold at major U.S. department stores, including Macy's, Kohl's, Dillard's, Nordstrom, Belk and Bloomingdales, and it also does private label retail.
But next month, Cupid will hold its yearly sample sale at the design studio on West Lehigh Street.
Hundreds of panties, bras, smoothers and shapers, in all sizes and not only in white, will be up for grabs for just a few dollars apiece at its upcoming sale.
Hours will be 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12 and Saturday, Sept. 13; and 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 14.
A company history
Cupid's extensive business timeline is an interesting look at history.
According to its website, Cupid Foundations began operations as a sole proprietorship in 1942, when World War II caused material shortages and rations were made available to the private sector.
When a knit fabric maker couldn't use its entire nylon yarn quota, Cupid was founded to take advantage of it and bought the yarn, had it knitted into fabric tubes, or girdles, and added garters to hold up hosiery.
Cupid's website then gives this history of the company, abbreviated:
- 1942-57 Cupid office, showroom, factory and warehouse set up in Manhattan.
- 1945 Cupid is incorporated in the state of New York.
- 1950 Cupid's New York City factory is unionized by the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union (ILGWU)
- 1963 Cupid makes pant liners now, keeping up with changing women's clothing styles, and moves its factory and warehouse to 37 S. Seventh St. Allentown; Allentown Corset Corporation is created.
- 1964 Girdle sales increase; a second factory is opened in Bethlehem on Conestoga Street, where condos now exist.
- 1967 Pantyhose replace stockings, eliminating the need for girdles and garter belts.
- 1970s "Shapewear" replaces "girdle" in the industry; Cupid receives its first patent, for a top shaper, and also makes its first sports bra.
- 1980s Cupid experiences increased growth and focuses on non-department store accounts as department stores experience a downturn; the design studio is relocated to West Lehigh Street.
Not your granny's girdles
Jennie Aburto, vice president of product development, leads a team of almost all women who design, make patterns for, cut fabric and stitch together sample pieces.
Those eventually will become panties, bras and other support wear that will instantly hold up, tuck, hide, lift and separate self-proclaimed problem areas.
But they're not your great-granny's girdles.
Gone is the white-only, stiff, scratchy, uncomfortable foundation piece that infamously required wiggling into, hiking up and often lying across a bed to finish squeezing into.
In its place are pretty, comfortable shaping pieces in a variety of colors, patterns and levels of "lightweight, targeted power zones," according to its website, which also offers online purchasing.
Cupid advertises its core trademarked brands — TC, Naomi & Nicole, Cupid and, more recently, TC Girl Power — as more comfortable, often with densely knitted, silky feeling cotton fabric, patented processes such as its lycra imprinted power zones, and stay-put silicone edging.
The technology claims "no ride, no lines and comfortable all day," according to its website.
'A dying art'
Aburto has been with Cupid for almost 20 years.
She is a product of Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School's former Apparel Design track, which now is called the Fashion Institute at BAVTS and offers fashion history, design, merchandising, illustration and pattern making, according to itswebsite.
"It's a dying art," Aburto said of patternmaking, in which a sample pattern is made in one size, then adjusted to fit a wide range of sizes.
Aburto said the company gladly will train anyone interested in learning.
Since Cupid's Bethlehem offices are strictly for design and making samples, it also has a need for fit models and advertise online.
"We get a lot of calls from young girls who want to be models, but it's not that kind of modeling," Alberto said. "It's strictly for fit purposes, and we need women in all shapes and sizes.
"We're always looking for local women in all sizes, with availability Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m."
More company timeline:
- 1990s Cupid opens and closes additional factories, including Allentown; creates new lines and technologies; and changes locations in step with the market.
- 2000-Today Cupid inhouse research and development team forms, sells outside of North America for the first time, continues to achieve new patents for varying support methods, enters panty business, now sells to Walmart.
- 2020 Cupid manufactures its own face covers during the COVID-19 pandemic and works with the federal government to provide face covers to healthcare workers and manufactures medical scrubs.
'Things change all the time'
Cupid Intimates employs three sample makers, a senior pattern maker, designer, two senior designers and a merchandising manager, and a maintenance and repair person.
Aburto said she has witnessed how social media and celebrities such as the Kardashians have influenced and even revived shapewear's popularity, in particular waist-cinchers.
Competition can be a good thing, keeping all parties on their toes, and the company's timeline tells a story of many changes and how important having another plan is.
But while Cupid's yearly sample sale is a testament to its ability to stay creative and change trends and respond quickly to consumer demand, "Retail is hard," Aburto said.
"It's hard. Things change all the time and what's in one season can be gone the next."
