Friday 20 May 2016

Introducing Sheer Chemistry

We like to bring you the latest news and hottest trends in the hosiery industry here at Hosiery For Men.

Sheer Chemistry is a new hosiery brand that is developing a real buzz on social media



We recently caught up with Tahlia Gray, the founder of Sheer Chemistry and are really pleased to publish this interview.

If you want to show support for the brand and all the hard work that is going in to building it, do take a minute and vote for Sheer Chemistry in the VOOM competition (see below.

Sheer Chemistry? What’s the story behind this new brand?


It was whilst I working in New York in 2012, during a blisteringly cold winter that I was inspired to create Sheer Chemistry.

Working in a fast-paced, culturally-diverse city, I was dissatisfied with wearing black opaque tights and the beige coloured tones labelled ‘nude’. I found myself becoming more and more frustrated by the lack of hosiery products available for women of colour, which made me ask the question - "is my beauty valid?"

In affirmation, and realising there was a major gap in the market, I decided to create an empowering brand focused on validating and celebrating the beauty of women of all shades of brown. Women, who don't often see themselves reflected in the mainstream hosiery products available to them.

So, in 2013, I founded Sheer Chemistry, a hosiery brand specialising in tights for women of all shades of brown.



And who is behind Sheer Chemistry?


I am the founder and director of Sheer Chemistry, and also no stranger to a cosmopolitan lifestyle. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia and of Jamaican heritage, I moved to London with my family at the age of 15. I’ve always had a keen interest in entrepreneurship, so I decided to study International Business at the University of Birmingham, UK. Since graduating in 2010, I have been fortunate enough to work in Santa Maria, Brazil; New York and London at some of the world’s largest multinational organizations, including Morgan Stanley and Linklaters.

Day to day, I work with a small but mighty team of brilliantly diverse women of colour to help me with the running of Sheer Chemistry, from brand and marketing, through to PR, finance and manufacturing.

Can you tell us the Sheer Chemistry range? What are the different styles, shades and sizes?


We’ve combined quality, style and comfort to bring our consumers tights that perfectly match their skin tone. With the radiant, confident and ambitious woman in mind, we offer a range of three products each designed to suit your lifestyle.

Sheer Radiance: 10 denier gloss tights.

Versatile sheer-to-waist tights, designed to make your legs stand out and feel radiant.

Sheer Ambition: 15 denier matt tights.

Studier, thicker tights, designed for everyday work wear.

Sheer Confidence: 15 denier matt control tights.

The ultimate confidence boost, designed to lift and shape your curves.



We have also worked tirelessly to perfect our five shades to ensure they match the skin tones of women of all shades of brown. Our shades are named after some of the world’s most desirable and cosmopolitan cities, to which our consumers have already been or have always dreamt of going: Havana Glow; Rio Romance; New York Soul; Nairobi Sunrise; and Parisian Dream.


Available in sizes S to XL, our tights are also designed to fit a range of shapes and sizes.





There are now a number of new and developing brands providing hosiery in different skin tones for women (and perhaps men) for, as you say, “different shades of brown”. What makes Sheer Chemistry unique?


Driven by a mission to create a more diverse perception of beauty, Sheer Chemistry gives women of colour the opportunity to find their perfect match, and empowers women to feel confident and gorgeous in your own skin.

Our proposition is unique: with five shades and three hosiery products, we are a hosiery brand that specifically targets and caters for women of all shades of brown, whether that’s black, mixed race, Latina, Middle Eastern or Asian women. Simply put, our tights are made to blend in so you can stand out!



You have just entered Sheer Chemistry in #VOOM 2016 to be in the running to pitch to Richard Branson and win investment from Virgin Media. Can you tell us more about this and how people can support you?


As a new brand scheduled to launch this Autumn, we want to tell the world about our amazing products and winning VOOM will enable us to do just that!

By voting for Sheer Chemistry you will not only help us launch our own e-commerce website and get our products stocked in stores globally, but you will help us challenge the traditional definitions of beauty and empower women around the world to feel confident and gorgeous in their own, brown skin.

To make this happen, we need to be in the top 80 on the leader board by 23 May and to get there, we need your help. Voting for Sheer Chemistry will just take one minute, so please vote and share the link with your friends and family to get them voting too!

You can vote at: https://www.vmbvoom.com/pitches/sheer-chemistry



You are developing a presence focused around awareness of diversity in hosiery and which responds to a diverse society, where one size or shade doesn’t fit all, so to speak. What are your thoughts on tights becoming more accepted as a gender-neutral fashion item for women and men?


Gender-neutral fashion is increasingly becoming the norm and I’m glad to see that men are embracing it and in fact, reclaiming hosiery. Let’s face it, back in the Tudor days, hosiery was created for men!

It's great to see that more brands are starting to incorporate tights for men in their product lines, whether that includes running tights to go under shorts or thermal tights for a wintry day. Tights are tights and men are reclaiming what is rightfully theirs.

To men thinking about trying tights, what would you say are the main benefits of wearing them?


The benefits are endless: supportive, warm, fashionable and with all the scientific benefits of compression gear.

Not to mention, in Sheer Chemistry tights they can be sure to feel confident and gorgeous in their own skin! The best part about them? Because our tights will perfectly match their skin tone, it won’t even look like they have tights on!

What are you planning next? How do you hope Sheer Chemistry will develop?


One of my favourite sayings is “Give a woman the right tights in her shade and she can conquer the world!” With that being said, once we WIN the VOOM competition, our plan is for world domination!

We will be officially launching Sheer Chemistry this Autumn, which will include the launch of our e-commerce site. Following this, our next big plan is to get Sheer Chemistry into UK shops and department stores. We want to become the hosiery brand of choice for the 2.6 black and minority ethnic consumer in the UK by helping them to celebrate their diversity, one pair of tights at a time.

What can people do if they have any questions about Sheer Chemistry or want to find out more?


You can email, Tweet, Instagram or Facebook us - we are everywhere our consumer is. We also have a website where you can read more about our unique product line and how to find your perfect shade.

Thanks for speaking to Hosiery For Men Tahlia. I hope all our readers, male and fame, will check out Sheer Chemistry. We look forward to the launch in the autumn and hope you can get as many votes in the VOOM competition as possible. Please get voting everyone!


No comments:

Post a Comment