Fighting Stigma: Entrepreneur Monoshita Ayruani Brings Comfort to Diverse Shapes

Monoshita Ayruani – the founder and managing director of SHAPE Industries Limited started out as a frustrated customer looking for the right innerwear. She too faced uncomfortable notions that millions of women in Bangladesh face on a regular basis, and decided to do something about it. This was the start of her unique entrepreneurial journey. Her story of building a brand from ground-up is a challenging one to say the least. She fought against cultural norms, stigma and taboos to cater to a vast market that is silent about their needs.

Ayruani, a diligent worker since her A Levels, began as an intern copywriter and progressed through the ranks at Webable Digital, a digital marketing agency. Simultaneously studying journalism at ULAB, she accumulated 8 years of diverse experience working with clients ranging from corporate organizations to international NGOs. Fueled by her entrepreneurial interest, she founded SHAPE in 2019 with her partner.

While shopping for intimate wear, Ayruani noticed the lack of inclusivity in sizes and shapes, particularly not catering to South Asian body types. The dominance of 'Western' beauty standards bothered her, and she saw it as a clear issue, believing that undergarments should not be one-size-fits-all. Another concern was the stigma surrounding undergarments, with women lacking knowledge and feeling uneasy discussing them openly. In Bangladesh, euphemisms like "small blouse" instead of "bra" were used due to the perceived vulgarity associated with female undergarments. Monoshita found this cultural aspect absurd, considering these items are daily necessities and that Bangladesh earns more than 700 million dollars in revenue by exporting lingerie.

Although high-end options exist, they are often unaffordable. The lack of tailored designs forces women to choose ill-fitting undergarments. Taboos make it challenging for women to communicate their needs openly, leading to a communication gap in male-female interactions. This silence prevailed until 2019 when SHAPE started, aiming to address these issues.

She launched a diverse lingerie line for South Asian women, overcoming Covid-19 pandemic challenges such as supply chain disruption and import issues. Dominating online marketing and customer service, she educates on size consultations and fosters women's discussions in her Facebook group, 'Girl Talk by SHAPE.' Despite initial resistance, she persisted against skeptics, rallying influencers for successful body-positive campaigns. Ayruani's brand expanded beyond lingerie, achieving success with intimate products, sleepwear, shapewear, cosmetics, and more.

Convincing friends and family took a considerable amount of time. It was also an uphill battle against naysayers and sexist men and women who ridiculed her largely organic content. Educating and empowering women was also a significant challenge. Then there was the struggle of funding. For two years the brand bootstrapped solely on sales. For larger funding she needed investor support. However, since SHAPE is not a tech company, many of the investors were reluctant to fund her work.

Ayruani continues to focus on communicating and building awareness around women's undergarments and issues. She has come far, in both her business and the fight. Till date, she has had consultations with over 150, 000+ women to help them find the perfect fit through digital size guidance. In 2022, SHAPE was selected for the 6-month Stanford Seed Spark incubation programme. She hopes to expand her products beyond retail in Dhaka and Chattogram and go global.

For centuries women have been told to look beautiful at the expense of comfort. However, Ayruani believes that comfort should come first, and beauty will naturally come along. She thanks bti and The Daily Star for the 'Stellar Women' platform and hopes to use it to further her cause of women empowerment.