Panache

Panache is a Sheffield lingerie company that designs bras for D cups and up, plus sports bras and swimwear, and it trades under three labels: Panache, Cleo and Sculptresse. Its best-known product is the Panache sports bra, which comes in more than 70 sizes from B to K. The company has been registered in Sheffield since 1980.

The Panache sports bra, tested on a treadmill

Panache says it has sold more than 3 million sports bras worldwide, and the range is broad: wired and non-wired, padded and unpadded, with straight or crossover straps, for medium and high impact.

The testing is the part that stands out. Panache works with Loughborough University, where bras are tested with sensors fitted to the bra and to the participant while running on a treadmill, to measure how much the breast moves. Pressure points are checked too, and wear trials add feedback from ordinary use. The company is also the performance bra consultant to the UK Sports Institute, supporting elite athletes.

The 70-plus sizes run from a B cup to a K. For larger bands, the Sculptresse sports bra is built for bands 34 to 46, up to a K cup, as an alternative to the main Panache Sport style.

Three Panache labels, three different fits

Panache: D cups and up

The main label is described on the brand site as D+ lingerie. Product names on the site show its everyday range: Envy, in a plunge and a full cup; Andorra, with a full cup and a non-wired version; Jasmine balcony; Tango plunge; Faith molded plunge; and full cup styles called Dream Comfort, Allure, Flora and Serene. Elegance uses a molded spacer cup.

Cleo: younger designs, and B and C cups

Cleo is the second label. In autumn and winter 2014 Panache added B and C cups to it, so Cleo is the place to look for a smaller cup in a Panache design.

Sculptresse: larger bands

Sculptresse began as part of Panache and now runs as its own brand for fuller busts on larger bands. Its range covers plunges, strapless bras, full cups and fuller coverage styles, and the brand names Sophia as a bestseller.

Fit advice from the Panache journal

Panache publishes a long run of fitting articles on its journal, and one idea comes up again and again: moving diagonally on the size grid. Its example is a woman who usually wears a 36D and wants a firmer band, who should try a 34E. The point is that the diagonal neighbors are worth trying when a favorite bra fits everywhere except the band.

The site also runs a virtual bra fitting tool that shows how a bra looks and feels in the wrong size. Before ordering any of these bras, the forum's bra size calculator and home measuring guide give a starting size.

The full band range for the main lingerie line could not be read from the brand site for this guide, which loads its size charts in the browser. The figures above, B to K in the sports range and 34 to 46 bands in the Sculptresse sports bra, are the ones the company states in its own articles.

Where to buy Panache

The brand sells through its own UK website and through lingerie shops, and its stockist finder marks shops that are "Fit Accredited" by Panache. The UK site's product pages load prices in the browser, and they could not be read for this guide, so no price is quoted here rather than a guessed one.

For other British fuller-bust brands, the forum has guides to Freya and Curvy Kate.

From Sartorial Limited to Panache

The company behind the brand is Panache Lingerie Limited, number 01524006 on the UK register of companies. It was incorporated on October 22, 1980 as Sartorial Limited, renamed A.J. and D. Marketing Limited at the end of 1981, and took the Panache Lingerie name in April 1993. Its registered office is in Waterthorpe, Sheffield, and it is listed as a wholesaler of clothing. The company's own pages describe more than 40 years of making D+ lingerie.