# Maidenform

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Women's underwear brand

For the television episode, see [Maidenform (Mad Men)](/source/Maidenform_(Mad_Men)).

Maidenform Logo Industry Apparel Founded 1922; 104 years ago (1922) Founder Enid Bissett Ida Rosenthal William Rosenthal Parent Hanesbrands Website www.maidenform.com

**Maidenform Brands** is a manufacturer of women's bras, [underwear](/source/Underwear), and shapewear founded in 1922.

## History

A vintage Maidenform advertisement and a [pigeon vest](/source/Pigeon_vest) produced by the company

The company was founded in [Bayonne, New Jersey](/source/Bayonne%2C_New_Jersey), in 1922 and sought to appeal to the [flapper](/source/Flapper) subculture of the time.[1]

Maidenform converted factories during [World War II](/source/World_War_II) in order to produce [pigeon vests](/source/Pigeon_vest) and parachutes. Pigeon vests, sometimes called pigeon bras, attached [war pigeons](/source/War_pigeon) to paratroopers' chests so that the paratrooper could land in a war zone and release the bird, which would fly away carrying a message.[2] Maidenform was contracted to produce 28,500 of these pigeon vests for the United States Armed Forces.[3]

The company's target audience and marketing changed over the decades. Through the 1950s, advertisements emphasized women's roles as wives and shoppers, while in the 1960s and 1970s they began to depict models as independent and capable of holding careers. By the 1990s, Maidenform advertisements began emphasizing comfort and fit.[1]

In 1997, Maidenform filed for [Chapter 11](/source/Chapter_11%2C_Title_11%2C_United_States_Code) bankruptcy protection. It recovered from bankruptcy in 1999 and began manufacturing overseas.[1] It then became a publicly traded company in July 2005.[4] In 2013, [Hanesbrands](/source/Hanesbrands) purchased Maidenform for $575 million, equivalent to $794.73 million in 2025.[5]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-ChicagoTribune_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-ChicagoTribune_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-ChicagoTribune_1-2) ["Defining dreams in a Maidenform bra"](https://www.chicagotribune.com/2005/10/05/defining-dreams-in-a-maidenform-bra/). *[Chicago Tribune](/source/Chicago_Tribune)*. 5 October 2005.{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_deprecated_archival_service))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Conner_2-0)** O'Conner, Maureen. ["Back When Pigeons Wore Bras"](https://www.thecut.com/2013/09/back-when-pigeons-wore-bras.html). *The Cut*. Retrieved 13 December 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Keating_3-0)** Keating, Lindsay. ["Pigeons in bras go to war"](https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/stories/pigeons-bras-go-war). *National Museum of American History*. Retrieved 13 December 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Maidenform to Begin Trading on Wall Street"](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-jul-18-fi-preview18.2-story.html). *Los Angeles Times*. 2005-07-18. Retrieved 2025-04-20.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Friedman, Alexi (2013-07-24). ["Hanes agrees to buy Iselin-based Maidenform for $575 million"](https://www.nj.com/business/2013/07/hanes_agrees_to_buy_iselin-bas.html). *nj.com*. Retrieved 2025-04-20.

## External links

- [Official website](http://www.maidenform.com)

- [Collection of mid-twentieth century advertising featuring Maidenform lingerie](http://gogd.tjs-labs.com/gallery-view?product=maiden*form) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20170214002851/http://gogd.tjs-labs.com/gallery-view?product=maiden*form) 2017-02-14 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) from The TJS Labs Gallery of Graphic Design.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Maidenform](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maidenform) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maidenform?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.