Created for Sensitive Skin. Crafted from Experience.
Aileen’s story
MY FIRST EVER STUDIO DAY WITH CUURVE — THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING.
Underwear shouldn’t hurt.
My underwear never fit properly. Pads too narrow, wedgies, staining I couldn't stop. The fabric wore thin after a few washes, no matter what I bought.
At university, a classmate sitting behind me noticed something I hadn't: scratch marks on my back, from scratching I didn't even know I was doing. It carried on for years. It took three years to get a diagnosis — macular amyloidosis, a skin condition that causes constant, relentless itching. In my mid-twenties, I started getting hot flushes at night during my period, something I'd never had when I was younger. My body kept changing, and most underwear wasn't built for any of it.
FROM QUESTION TO COMMITMENT.
Why isn't this easy to buy?
In September 2021, I did something about it. I signed up for a one-day masterclass near where I lived in North London — design and make your own pair of knickers in eight hours. I walked out with a finished pair and a question I couldn't put down: why isn't this easy to buy?
It took four more years to turn that question into Cuurve.
Those four years were not glamorous. I had a full-time job, which I still have today. I had imposter syndrome, burnout, and long stretches of low confidence. I made prototype after prototype and threw most of them away. Some evenings the only progress I made was watching Netflix while I unpicked a seam I'd got wrong the first time.
I taught myself to sew. I went back to Ray Stitch in Islington twice for proper grounding in the skills.
crafted slowly, in tiny batches — made with intention.
Where it all began
Slowly, I found people who could take me further than I could take myself: a manufacturing partner in Yorkshire who understood what I was trying to build, and independent designers who helped me solve the technical problems I couldn't solve alone.
By May 2025, I'd reached a point where I had to make it or leave it. I chose to make it.
Cuurve makes in small batches. That's not a marketing decision — it's because I don't like waste. I'd rather test a design properly, see how it holds up on real bodies, and get it right before committing to a large order. Every piece I sell has been tested on my own body first. If it doesn't work for me, it doesn't go further.
the first Cuurve photoshoot — a moment I’ll always treasure.
What I believe
I'm a curvy woman with skin that reacts to almost everything, and I spent years unable to find underwear that didn't make things worse.
I built Cuurve for women whose bodies have been an afterthought in most underwear design. Comfort and beauty were never supposed to be opposites. That's the whole point of Cuurve.
— Aileen
