KURVWEAR'S STORY
BY ALISHA ATHREYA
Kurvwear didn’t start with a team, a plan, a polished product, or even a clue on how to create one. It started on my bedroom floor in my parents’ house, with a promise I made to my friend - and a lot of heart.
In 2019, someone I love was hospitalised from internal bleeding after undergoing plastic surgery. Watching her go through that changed me. It lit a fire inside me to find a safer solution - something that would make women like her, women like me, feel confident and beautiful in their bodies without ever having to put themselves at risk.
I didn’t know anything about garments. I didn’t know where to start. But I knew I had to try.
I spent the next year teaching myself how to sew from YouTube tutorials while finishing university and working any job I could to save enough money for Kurvwear samples. At $300 USD each, it wasn’t something 20-year-old me could easily afford. But I poured every spare second I had into it. I made 37 prototypes in total. One of the first versions of our padding was carved from construction foam I bought at Bunnings. I tested every shape, stitched every version by hand, and just kept going until I built something that worked.
It wasn’t perfect - but it was mine.
It was my promise to my friend.
And it was made for every woman who’s ever looked in the mirror and wished for a little more, without wanting to become someone else.
In August 2020, Kurvwear officially launched.
And even now, we still do things differently.
When I’m developing something new for Kurvwear, I’m thinking about how it will make you feel when you wear it. I think about the DMs and emails we get from women crying happy tears in the mirror. The ones who say they finally feel like themselves again. The ones who tell us, “I didn’t know I could feel like this.”
Those stories are my north star. If you’re reading this - you are my north star.
I understand what it’s like to want more from your clothes. That’s why everything we develop is built with care, tested obsessively, and refined until it’s something I’m proud to stand behind. From our curve-enhancing padding to the way we build our sculpting shapewear, every panel, fabric, and seam is designed with one thing in mind - how you’ll feel when you wear it.
Because at the end of the day, Kurvwear is about how you feel when you look in the mirror.
I've built Kurvwear from the ground up, one stitch at a time - and I’ve never stopped pouring my heart into it. Because to me, this isn’t just a brand. It’s a promise. A promise to my friend. A promise to myself. And a promise to you.
So thank you for being here.
Thank you for reading this.
And thank you for believing in what we’re building.
This is my life’s work.
This is my love letter to every woman who’s ever wanted to feel powerful in her own skin.
This is Kurvwear.
- Alisha Athreya xx