Brazil's Most Beloved Lingerie Family
A Sao Paulo Love Story (1966)
Hope Lingerie was founded in 1966 in Sao Paulo by Nissim Hara, a Japanese-Brazilian entrepreneur who built what would become one of Brazil's largest and most beloved lingerie companies. The brand's name — "Hope" — reflected both optimism and the aspirational quality that the founder envisioned for his products.
The company remained family-owned through multiple generations, with each transition bringing modernization while preserving the family values and quality standards that had built the brand. This continuity gave Hope a stability and authenticity that corporate-owned competitors couldn't replicate.
National Champion
Hope grew to become one of Brazil's top lingerie brands, with a retail presence spanning hundreds of stores across the country. The brand's success was built on understanding Brazilian women intimately — their body types, their climate needs, their fashion preferences, and the cultural role that lingerie played in Brazilian femininity.
Celebrity Campaigns
Hope's advertising campaigns featured some of Brazil's most famous women, including supermodel Gisele Bundchen. These campaigns elevated the brand's visibility and associated it with Brazilian beauty at its most celebrated. The Bundchen campaign, in particular, generated significant attention and positioned Hope as a mainstream fashion brand rather than merely a lingerie manufacturer.
The Brazilian Market
Hope's significance is inseparable from the Brazilian lingerie market itself — one of the world's largest and most culturally important. In Brazil, lingerie is not a hidden garment category but a visible, celebrated aspect of fashion and personal expression. Hope's position as a market leader reflects its success in serving this unique and demanding cultural context.