how allie cameron built an underwear brand on sustainability and body positivity
Plus, how HARA chooses a greener planet over greenwashing.
When it comes to building an underwear brand, sustainability and body positivity go pretty much hand-in-hand as the foundation to build the biz upon. Or, at least, you’d hope they would. But while that might not exactly be the case for all the pairs of knickers you’ve got clogging up your small bits drawer, for the undies at HARA, it sure is. We caught up for a chinwag with founder Allie Cameron to chat about the biz and how a sustainable brand like HARA manages to thrive in an industry with its own very real set of challenges.
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Tell us about HARA and how it got started. HARA began from a deeply personal exploration. In high school I was already running a little vintage clothing business, which opened my eyes to how the fashion industry really functions. That awareness deepened in 2014 when I travelled to India and saw first-hand how textiles are produced, and how the people who make our clothes (often women) are treated. It was confronting. That experience planted the seed to create something different. I didn’t yet know what form it would take, but I knew it had to challenge the system I’d witnessed.
On a trip to Bali not long after that, a friend of a friend introduced me to bamboo fabric. I learnt how this amazing plant that required so little to grow could be transformed into comfortable bamboo underwear that feels nourishing on the body and has a lesser impact on the planet, if done correctly. I began with just two designs – simple undies and bras like our still-best-selling Stella Low Cut Bra – and people responded. From there, HARA slowly grew into what it is today, a brand built around comfort, care and a desire to do things differently from the industry norms I had experienced.
What are some aspects of creating and selling a sustainable product that are a challenge? Sustainability is far slower and more complex than many people realise. Sourcing specific fibres like bamboo or low-impact dyes requires a level of research and integrity that simply takes time to nurture. Because the industry at large prioritises speed and scale, choosing to go against that grain takes patience and a willingness to do things properly rather than cheaply.
This commitment naturally narrows the circle of people we can work with. We have to build deep partnerships and audit the work personally to ensure trust. It also demands the strength to say no to commercially good ideas that do not align with our values. We are constantly balancing what the customer wants with the deeper reality of what is possible.
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How do you make sure that HARA avoids greenwashing? I think the biggest thing is staying grounded in the details. We try not to lean on buzzwords or vague claims – instead, we talk openly about what we’re using, why we chose it, and how it’s made.
To me, having a direct financial commitment to give back is more important than ever. We’ve seen the landscape shift recently where even massive corporations and companies in high-impact industries – from fast fashion to energy – are becoming B-Corp certified. It suggests that a “seal of approval” isn’t always enough to guarantee a brand’s alignment with the customers intentions. That’s why our partnership with 1% for the Planet is so vital. It’s a transparent, non-negotiable commitment to put our money where our mission is, ensuring that our success directly funds the environmental non-profits doing the heavy lifting for our earth.
How do you approach designing underwear that celebrates natural bodies, like in HARA’s recent The Real Bush Campaign? So much of design in the underwear space is built around shaping, fixing, concealing or “improving” the body. We try to design from the opposite place. We ask how a garment can support a woman to feel at home in her body, rather than working on it.
With The Real Bush Campaign, that meant creating something intentionally simple, soft and comfortable, without any promise of transformation. It was created as a totem that allows women to honour the body as it is. We think that comfort is deeply political in that way. When someone feels comfortable, it’s likely they are not being managed or instructed. They are just allowed to be. Practically, that shows up in our fabric choices, our fits, and our silhouettes. We use breathable bamboo, avoid unnecessary structure, and design pieces that move with the body instead of moulding it.
The Real Bush Campaign grew out of that philosophy. It’s a response to a cultural moment that suggests women’s bodies require synthetic additions to be acceptable. I wanted to design something that could elegantly challenge that and to create underwear that supports autonomy, comfort and confidence in what’s already there.
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Why is it important for HARA to platform principles like sustainability and body positivity? I would say it’s important because sustainability and body positivity aren’t things we’ve added onto HARA. They’re the reason it exists. They’re part of the company’s being. If we couldn’t build a business that tried, imperfectly, to honour the earth and support women to feel at home in their bodies, there really wouldn’t be a point in us being in business at all.
Something I’ve learnt over the years is that HARA as a business is actually smaller than its community. There are far more women who carry this brand in their lives than there are people buying our clothing in any given year. That became especially clear in 2022, when the business went through a major restructure. For almost two years after that, when we had nothing new commercially to offer, it was the community, their messages, their stories, their patience that kept me going and reminded me why I started.
It’s also important because everything we make participates in culture, whether we intend it to or not. Clothing isn’t neutral. It reflects values, reinforces norms, and quietly teaches people how to see their bodies and the world around them. For us, that means we have a responsibility to be thoughtful about what we’re putting into both.
I also believe that sustainability and body positivity are deeply connected. How we treat the earth and how we treat bodies often comes from the same mindset that values extraction, optimisation, and the idea that things exist to be used up or corrected. We’re interested in a different relationship. One based on care, respect and long-term thinking. Because of that, I never think of it as platforming these ideas – it feels truer to say that these ideas are the brand. Sustainability, body autonomy, comfort, care. They shape how we design, what we choose to make, and how we try to show up. The materials we use and the products we create are simply the most tangible way those values take form.
This rad chat was produced in partnership with the lovely folk at HARA.