Sheer’s annual Hong Kong charity bra drive is back! Lingerie boutique founder Lisa Cheng talks about her entrepreneurial journey, finding the perfect fit and how donating your bras helps women in need
- Lingerie boutique Sheer now stocks everything from Agent Provocateur and Coco de Mer to Chantelle – but getting started in the industry wasn’t easy, according to founder Lisa Cheng
- Cheng saw a gap in the market for high quality service and fittings in Hong Kong, and has since built a thriving brand – so how is she giving back to the community through her annual bra drive?
In the early hours of a late August morning, lingerie guru Lisa Cheng arrives at Sheer boutique in an elegant corner of The Landmark in Hong Kong.
Cheng’s brainchild Sheer is a leading lingerie and loungewear collective based in Hong Kong that’s hosting a charity bra drive – its first since the city recovered from the pandemic. So, how can those who take part in the event help women in need, and what is her advice for aspiring entrepreneurs? Style chatted to Cheng to find out.
Sheer’s beginnings
Cheng was in a New York lingerie store when she realised she had been wearing the wrong bra size. As she stood in the fitting room wearing the correct one, she realised for the first time what a bra should feel like.
This was when it hit Cheng that finding a bra that fits in all the right places is a common struggle for most women. “I think a lot of us feel that there is something that’s not comfortable, but we can’t quite identify what,” she explains. “So we just go with the flow and say it’s good enough; it’s not falling off, at least.”
But what really pushed Cheng to open her own boutique was the lack of places with fitting expertise, size inclusivity and varied styles in Hong Kong.
Cheng had a successful career in marketing and product development for beauty giants in New York and Europe. But she fantasised about becoming an entrepreneur. She says her thinking became clearer when she needed a strapless bra for a party but didn’t know where to look.
“I’ve never lived in Hong Kong before, so I asked my friends, ‘where do you guys buy lingerie in Hong Kong?’” she recalls. “And their answer was so surprising. It was nowhere.”
Cheng immediately got to researching, going from department stores to premium lingerie boutiques, but was left completely uninspired. One store’s attitude was particularly depressing. Unable to tell the difference between two black bras Cheng asked about, its employees simply said, “They’re both French, but this one is a bit more expensive.”
Determined to change the lingerie scene in Hong Kong, Cheng began going to trade shows in Paris and New York, talking to suppliers about a store that didn’t yet exist.