The Man Who Invented Sexy
In 1946, Frederick Mellinger opened a small mail-order lingerie business from a loft on Fifth Avenue in New York City. The following year, he moved to Hollywood — and the American lingerie industry would never be the same.
Frederick's of Hollywood
Mellinger's genius was understanding that lingerie could be entertainment. Inspired by the glamour of Hollywood — the negligees of film noir, the pin-up calendars of the war years — he created a store and catalogue that treated intimate apparel as something exciting, not just functional.
His innovations were remarkable:
- 1947: The first padded bra — the original "push-up"
- 1948: The "Rising Star" push-up bra — the first dedicated push-up design
- 1981: Introduced the thong to America
- First retailer to sell black lingerie commercially — at a time when white and nude were the only "respectable" colors
The Purple Building
The Frederick's of Hollywood flagship store on Hollywood Boulevard, with its famous purple facade, became a tourist attraction. The store's "Celebrity Lingerie Hall of Fame" displayed bras and intimate garments owned by stars including Madonna, Cher, and Judy Garland.
The Controversy
Mellinger's vision was not without criticism. Feminist groups argued that Frederick's objectified women, that the padded bras and push-up designs reinforced unrealistic beauty standards. But others argued that Mellinger gave women permission to enjoy their own sexuality — that lingerie could be playful, fun, and chosen by the woman wearing it, not dictated by modesty codes.
The Legacy
Frederick Mellinger died in 1990, but his contributions to lingerie history are indelible. The push-up bra alone became a multi-billion-dollar category. The thong transformed underwear design worldwide. And the idea that lingerie could be aspirational, glamorous, and a little bit dangerous? That was Frederick's gift to American fashion.
Frederick's of Hollywood: where the push-up bra, the thong, and black lingerie were all born.