Lingerie brands have long stuck to stereotypes of sexy. These three brands are tackling the gap in the market with underwear that offers comfort and understated appeal.

For a long time, buying women’s underwear meant choosing between stereotypically sexy, frilly lingerie or bland, frumpy basics. Middle ground offerings were a narrow space of overpriced pieces and underwear that often included infantile patterns or threadbare stripes. But with the rise of online businesses has come a proliferation of retail startups and independent labels tackling this gap in hopes of shaking up the underwear market and offering more diversity. One trend in particular that seems to have tightened its grip on underwear and lingerie collections is 1990s minimalism. Playing up comfort and understated appeal, designers in this movement are ditching embellishments in favour of seamless pieces and neutral shades.

Since 2009, the retail revenue of the global lingerie market has been steadily increasingly and is slated to reach $82 billion this year, according to data by Statista. In Europe and the US, the market has been dominated by behemoths like Victoria’s Secret, Calzedonia Group, Triumph International and Hanes for decades. In an interesting anomaly, the UK underwear market is ruled by Marks and Spencer with a 26 percent market share.

While plenty of mainstream lingerie has been designed to change women’s body shapes and cater to the male gaze, a new crop of brands are challenging these notions with minimalist intimates designed for both comfort and sensuality. Instead of thongs and lace contraptions, consumers are opting for fuller underwear shapes and non-wired garments. In 2014, sales of thongs decreased by 7 percent while sales of full-bottomed shapes increased by 17 percent, according to research company NPD Group.

"The global online lingerie market is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 17.25 percent from 2016 to 2020"