Kestos is a British lingerie[1] brand founded in London in 1925 by British designer Rosamund Lilian Klin, (1899-1949) the wife of a Russian artist living in London.[2] Kestos' major innovation[3] to the feminine underwear in the 1930s was the development of the two separate cups model.[4][5] Rosamund Klin, director of the Kestos Corset Company, started experimenting with a pair of hankies, just like Caresse Crosby[6][7] back in 1913. Kestos' bra was the first commercially produced brassiere that had two distinct and defined cups[8] and "the Kestos" became a generic trademark bra.[9][10][11] Kestos was distributed in the US,[12] UK, Canada, Australia, France as well as some other European countries[13] and was popular through the 1930s, 1940s and into the early 1950s. The company went into liquidation in 1967 prior to the death of the Chairman Leo Klin (1877-1967).[14]

References

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  1. ^ "Bra, Kestos 1364421 | National Trust Collections". nationaltrustcollections.org.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  2. ^ "The Sydney Morning Herald - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  3. ^ "Vintage Bras Inspire Modern Lingerie Designers on Lingerie Briefs". lingeriebriefs.com. 4 February 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  4. ^ "Where oh where is the underwear?". Independent.co.uk. 28 August 1997.
  5. ^ "100 years of the BRA; WE INVITE YOU TO RAISE YOUR CUPS AND TOAST.. - Free Online Library". thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  6. ^ Conference paperiffti.com Archived 2 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Hoorah for the bra!". smh.com.au. 8 May 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  8. ^ "Partial Coverage - The Kestos Brasierre: The First Of Its Kind". dollhousebettie.com. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  9. ^ Pauline Thomas. "Bra History - Bras and Girdles - A Fashion History". fashion-era.com. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  10. ^ "100 Years of the Bra". Mirror Online. 9 April 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  11. ^ Lauren Olds (2001). "World War II and Fashion: The Birth of the New Look". Constructing the Past. 2 (1).
  12. ^ "The New Yorker Digital Edition : Dec 07, 1935". archives.newyorker.com. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  13. ^ "Museum of London Blog Is that Aristoc or Kira sheer? » Museum of London Blog". blog.museumoflondon.org.uk. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  14. ^ Farrell-Beck, J.; Gau, C. (2002). Uplift: The Bra in America. University of Pennsylvania Press, Incorporated. p. 78. ISBN 9780812218350. Retrieved 8 July 2015.

Bibliography

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  • Uplift: The Bra in America, Jane Farrell-Beck, Colleen Gau, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002 - Health & Fitness - 264 pages
  • The Garden Book, Brian Castro, Giramondo Publishing, May 1, 2005 - Fiction - 324 pages
  • The encyclopaedia of fashion, Georgina O'Hara Callan, H.N. Abrams, Oct 1, 1986 - Design - 272 pages
  • The Story of Lingerie, Muriel Barbier, Shazia Boucher, Parkstone International, May 8, 2012 - Design - 272 pages