Creating women-centric brands with Tylea Simone
What led you to start Thundress?
Thundress was started before the “pussy hat” era and before the girl bosses got out of hand. We were being outspoken about women’s issues in a more rebellious way, not caring about respectability. I think these conversations influenced the cultural shift that happened a bit later with the marketing of “girl power.” but I really detest the direction it went in, unfortunately. Today, the “women’s space” can feel inauthentic and fake – it can feel like a lot of stuff to “crawl through.”
What have you learned about women and girls over the years?
Women’s bodies are constantly changing
Part of our biggest challenge was that Thundress underwear was made without any polyester fabric and that made the fit so hard. I couldn’t imagine the kind of technical design challenge this was going to be until I learned that women’s bodies are constantly contracting and expanding, all the time. The only way I was able to deal with that was to have different bodies test it out and give me honest feedback.
Women are marketed to differently and there’s an opportunity here
When it comes to marketing, it’s so easy to tap into human insecurities and I feel that women’s products fall into those categories more than men's. Such as loneliness, or body image. Men are marketed to more “rationally,” while it feels like women’s subconscious is being tapped into. But if you rationally communicate to women and truly solve a problem for them, that’s how you truly design for women.
What advice would you have for someone creating a product, service, or community for women?
Don’t pink it and shrink it
I can’t believe that even in 2022, this is a revelation, but it is – women don’t want to be pandered to. I was really intentional with Thundress – I didn’t want it to be “soft, sexy, pink, red or purple,” and I didn’t need it to be either. No one was missing that, no one said this doesn’t feel feminine enough. Women connected to the design and brand without any of that. I wish more brands would do that – trust their core offering and messaging to speak as opposed to relying on all this traditional marketing and design. If you’re going to rely on “femininity traps,” you’re going to exclude so many women.
Don't create a problem where there isn’t one in order to sell to women
Find out what the pain point really is. The pain point isn’t that women don’t have products that are cute and pink. If you appeal to women’s intellect in a certain way, you will appeal to them. In our case, it was about vaginal health and why you need to pay attention to it. I was blogging about vaginal health and the shame around vaginal health, or why no one is talking about yeast infections in a clear way. Thundress was successful because it was rooted in that pain point – the gender-neutral underwear was a positive externality.
Be clear about which women you're designing for
My main supporters and consumers were lesbians or queer women and black women because that’s primarily the language I used. I never talked about men or “sexy time.” Queer women don't want to participate in traditionally heteronormative narratives and I was always conscious of that.
Encourage women to fill in their own narrative
Especially as an underwear brand, it was really important for us to not be “sex kitteny.” With underwear, the messaging is so clearly about the man: “buy this so that men will find you sexy, wear this so he will want to have sex with you again.” I didn’t want to feed this narrative, and what happened was that it became sexy in its own really authentic way – by being more about the product than the person.
Where else in the world do you wish to see more intentionally designed offerings for women?
Period Trackers: I wish all period trackers weren't about trying to get pregnant or avoiding pregnancy. How are we in 2021 and still talking about only encountering sperm?
Banking: Finance is inherently based on “couples” and marriage and it is unfair, ridiculous, and ancient.
About Tylea Simone
Tylea has spent most of her career at the intersection of design and social good as an entrepreneur, researcher, and operations whiz. She holds a BA in Public Service from Providence College and an MA in Business & Labor Studies from NYU and is currently pursuing an MFA from the Institute for American Indian Arts. She lives in Miami with her scruffy rescue dog, Nosferatu.