Beyoncé & Shygirl’s Favorite Lingerie Designer Just Launched A More Affordable Line

Australian artist Michaela Stark has been experimenting with “body morphing” — or sculpting and reshaping one’s figure through tight loops and asymmetrical constructions — for years. After she built a following by modeling her contortionist corsets, the 29-year-old artist has since made custom lingerie for Beyoncé, Shygirl, and Sam Smith. And on Feb. 22 during Milan Fashion Week, she debuted Panty, her first-ever ready-to-wear line.

At Fondazione Sozzani — a culture center in Milan that was transformed to look like her bedroom and London atelier — Stark revealed the “unapologetically feminine and inclusive” line of silk bloomers, taffeta wrap belts, garters, and babydoll dresses that will be available to purchase through the brand’s upcoming e-comm site and Instagram drops. The purpose of the collection, Stark says, is to offer her designs at a more accessible price point (starting at around $75) than the bespoke pieces (which start at around $3,988) — and to create lingerie that’s from and for the female gaze.

Working on the brand with her partner Raga Muñecas sparked multiple conversations around gender and desire in their relationship, Stark says. “I’ve worn underwear before to try and cater to the male gaze and never found it very satisfying so I wanted to take myself away from that world,” she says. “But Raga has never had that experience — she’s always been focused on the lesbian community.” It’s all about making you as a person feel comfortable and nothing about trying to look sexy for men.

Despite Panty being a lingerie line, Stark says that much of the range is intended to be worn as outerwear — including the stomach-framing silk bloomers, which feature a wrap belt wearers can tie around their legs, arms, and stomachs. This celebration of different shapes and sizes (up to 5XL) is something Stark has received public hate for: After she created couture pieces for the Victoria’s Secret World Tour 23, Stark’s Instagram account was deleted after a wave of backlash from “people who wanted the old Victoria's Secret Angels back,” she says. Between her experience with Instagram censorship and blatant fatphobia, she says she feels like we’ve returned to a moment in fashion where “everyone’s like, ‘Let’s just go back to super skinny.”

But still, Stark is launching Panty with theatrics and comedic flair — the photos from Charlotte Rutherford’s accompanying exhibition include Stark’s breasts busting through a dollhouse, for example. And the humor is intentional. “People listen more if you’re not super serious and they don’t feel like they’re in trouble,” she says.