Jill Scott's new lingerie line

JILL SCOTT GIVES US BUTTERFLIES: Singer/Actress brings plus-sized women relief with her Butterfly Bra.
By Kenya M Yarbrough
June 11, 2008

*Grammy Award winner Jill Scott has wowed fans with her music since her debut disc “Who is Jill Scott?” took the industry by storm in 2000. Now the question posed is “What is Jill Scott doing next?” The singer, actress, poet has now become a lingerie designer of sorts as she’s teamed with retailer Ashley Stewart to launch the Butterfly Bra Collection – a new line of intimate apparel for plus-size women.
Scott kicked off her five-city “Made to Uplift Tour” in mid-May and took time out on the second stop in Los Angeles to promote the new line that she hopes will give voluptuous women more confidence and comfort. Scott participated in a panel discussion that brought out the likes of “ample” celebs Mo’Nique and Angie Stone.
“Everybody in my family – my mother, my grandmother, my aunts, my cousins – everybody is ample, so we all have those dark lines on our shoulders and everybody has back pain,” Scott told an audience of supporters and fans. “Whether we’re stretching, standing up against a wall or going to a chiropractor or whatever the case, it just got to a point where I said, ‘Enough is enough.’ If everybody in my family has these painful experiences and we’re wearing bras 12 to 14 hours a day every single day – there’s got to be an option.”
Scott said that she has constantly been plagued by poor support and uncomfortable bras. Like many women of her stature, she’d resort to often wearing two bras at a time or tucking shoulder pads under bra straps. Scott even admitted that she fidgeted so much with her bras that she didn’t’ even realize she was adjusting them while she was performing on stage. The singer said the even bras that were especially made for her in London, Paris, and New York didn’t fit the bill, or er ... just didn’t fit.
“It seemed like everything hurt,” she said. “So I got frustrated with the hurting, prayed about it, woke up and had this idea of the butterfly bra,” she said.
Scott said that she took the butterfly design idea to a number of designers and retailers, but was kindly greeted with rejection under the guise that the marketing of the product would be difficult because the target demographic was too small.
“They weren’t ready,” Scott said of the idea that her fan base was too specific. “But it’s not about me as an actress or a vocalist; it’s about a need. We were hurting. So I went to Ashley Stewart and it felt like a family. I showed them my sketches and we got to working.”
Executives at Ashley Stewart felt that Scott was on to something and jumped at the chance to work with the International superstar.
“After listening to Jill’s story and her issues, we knew we had customers out there who had the same problem,” said Ashley Stewart Director of Product Development Melfi Jimenez about why it was easy for the brand to say yes to the Butterfly Bra. “But most of all, it was Jill’s passion for the product; her integrity. She did not come to us just wanting to get her name out there. The product was important to her. She worked hours upon hours developing this bra. She designed it, she wore it, she tested it and we finally got a product that she was happy with. It’s hard to find people that really care about people and have the integrity to do what’s right and not just to put her name out there.”
Jill Scott's promotional video for the Butterfly Bra:
Scott’s name and her company, J Heather Inc, are connected to the Butterfly line, as well as her image in the marketing and merchandising concepts. It only makes sense as this intimate apparel line was created and designed by Scott herself.
“Everything we added to it was everything that Jill explained to us that she couldn’t find in a bra, Ashley Stewart EVP/General Manager Marla Minns said. “It’s natural, it’s more supportive, it’s the gel, it’s all the material we used, but also what makes this bra special is what Jill calls the ‘butterfly’ is that the support is not only on the shoulders, but it’s in the ‘butterfly piece’ in the back.”
And Scott described the bra in one word – comfortable.
“That’s what else makes it different,” she said, and continued, “I don’t think when men first designed the bra that they were thinking about human beings. I think they were thinking about something to hold ‘them’ up that pleased them. This is about comfort and support. Anything else won’t do.”
Another thing that Scott and the folks at Ashley Stewart Stores think this new concept in underwear is about is confidence.
“Your undergarments are your foundation,” Jimenez said. “It really sets the tone of how women feel and how their clothes are going to look. It’s important that your clothes look good and lay good, but also to give you confidence to really shine and be who you truly are.”
Comfort and confidence can be attained for $39 per bra, and the entire Butterfly Collection can be purchased exclusively at Ashley Stewart stores or http://www.ashleystewart.com/.
“I’m really pleased and I hope that it helps,” Scott said. “We have so many issues. If we can worry about one less thing, I’m grateful for that.”
To keep tabs on what Jill Scott is up to, visit her official website at http://www.jillscott.com/.