Tech aids founder in shaping of new generation of pantyhose

Sara Blakely was on BBC promoting her company and hosiery product, Spanx.

She was telling the news anchor, "It smoothes your fanny, lifts your fanny, tightens your fanny."

Well marketing can be funny sometimes, because in England, fanny means vagina, and the newscaster looked uncomfortable and said, "I think you mean bum."

This and other anecdotes kept Blakely's lecture at the College of Management last Wednesday surprisingly entertaining.

Blakely is the founder and owner of Spanx, a women's undergarment company.

Spanx's signature product is footless pantyhose worn as underwear.

Blakely was able to turn $5,000 in savings into a $20 million business.

"It gets rid of all panty lines and makes a woman look about five pounds lighter," Blakeley said.

One of the unique things about Spanx is that a woman can, unlike with normal pantyhose, wear them with any shoes, even sandals.

It's no secret lots of women will pay lots of money to instantly have the appearance of slimmer, smoother thighs and, as the Spanx name implies, butts.

So despite the fact that some male executives laughed at Blakeley's invention, it flew off the shelves of major high-end department stores such as Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Due to creative marketing and humorous names and slogans, Spanx has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, Forbes, Vogue, and The New York Times, among others.

Blakeley was a contestant on Richard Branson's show The Rebel Billionaire: The Quest for the Best, winning first runner up and $750,000 to start an international women's charity.

Blakely was working as a fax and copier salesperson by day and a comedian by night when she came up with Spanx.

She was wearing white pants and needed an undergarment to wear underneath that wouldn't show, and a G-String just wasn't going to make it.

So she cut off the feet of some pantyhose and decided to turn the idea into a new product.

When she needed undergarments to go underneath white pants, she cut off the feet of some pantyhose and decided to turn the idea into a new product.

She went on the internet to look up hosiery mills and cold-called them.

When the hosiery mill owners laughed and dismissed her, she got in her car and drove around North Carolina to speak with them in person.

"All these men were making our undergarments, and that's probably why they've been so uncomfortable."

Blakely finally met Ted Hayes, a mill owner with daughters who loved the idea and so he agreed to help her take the project on.

It took a year to make the prototype with the right mix of stretch and support, no dig-in comfort waist, a cotton crotch, and an adjustable ankle band.

To patent her idea, Blakely called three law firms in Atlanta. "They thought I was joking."

She said one lawyer even told her, "I thought your idea was so bad I thought you had been sent by Candid Camera."

The law firms all quoted $3000-$5000 to write the patent, but that was nearly all of Blakeley's savings.

Instead she ended up writing most of the patent herself using a book she bought at Barnes and Noble, and she did in-depth research of other pantyhose patents using the Tech library.

She came to the Georgia Tech Library after work ten nights in a row to do research.

"Tech was instrumental in me getting started...that's why I'm always willing to speak here," she said.

"I developed the packaging with my friend on her computer," Blakely said.

She said she had a very clear idea of the design and wanted it to stand out.

"I had no focus groups.check in with yourself and don't doubt yourself.It's a sea of beige and gray, so I wanted red.very artsy and different."

There was no money for advertising, so the packaging had to make the product stand out on the shelf.

Confident in her finished product, Blakeley called Neiman Marcus, who put her in touch with their buyer in Texas.

She flew out and within five minutes the buyer ordered the product for seven stores.

In the question and answer session following her speech, Blakeley gave some insightful tips.

"If you have an idea, don't tell anyone [until you develop it].the minute you put your idea out there, your ego is involved.People might say something and stop you before you start."

She pointed out that Ted Turner attributed his success to guts.

"I'm not the smartest person I know.I have no business background.but I had guts."

A student asked about concerns over intellectual property, since a major drugstore brand could duplicate her idea.

Her reply was not to worry too much about idea stealing and focus on innovation.

"My biggest asset is the name Spanx, instead of fighting competitors, try to come up with the next big thing.People don't want to steal your idea until it's in the market doing well.try to be first to market."