Our story

The Elya story

It all starts with a woman who was looking for — and couldn't find — shapewear she could wear all day without thinking about it.

Chapter 1 — The spark

One woman, and an idea that wouldn't let go.

Clara Levêque had tried almost every shapewear on the market. The kind that sculpts but marks the skin within an hour. The kind that slips the moment you move. The kind that shows under an otherwise fitted dress. The kind that ends up in your handbag by 4pm because you just can't take it anymore.

The observation is simple: shapewear brands ask women to choose between silhouette and comfort. Between a beautiful line and a day you can live in. Between the second-skin effect promised in the photos and the reality under your jumper at the end of the day.

In spring 2025, after yet another fitting, Clara decided she was done searching. She wanted to create. Shapewear made for real life — for rushed mornings, 14-hour days, and evenings you don't want to cut short because you feel uncomfortable in your underwear.

"Too much shapewear chooses between comfort and silhouette. None thinks about the 14-hour day." — Clara Levêque, founder of Elya

Clara Levêque, founder of Elya

The founder

Clara Levêque, founder of Elya.

Clara Levêque is 32. A graduate of a Paris business school, she spent seven years in fashion retail with contemporary brands before devoting herself entirely to Elya. Not a self-proclaimed shapewear expert — just a woman who has worn it since her early twenties and was tired of having to choose between looking good and feeling good.

The turning point came on a business trip to northern Portugal, where she stumbled upon a family-run workshop specialising in seamless circular knitting. European textile craftsmanship, passed down over three generations, produces a fabric that doesn't mark, doesn't slip, isn't felt. She knew immediately that this was where it had to be made — not in Asia, where most brands have their shapewear produced.

Elya was born from that encounter. A French brand, designed in Paris, made 90 km from Porto, created for women who no longer want to put up with their underwear. Clara runs Elya from end to end — from choosing the fibres to the photo campaigns, and every wear test in between.

Based in
Paris, France
Education
Paris business school
Experience
7 years in contemporary fashion retail
Founded Elya
Spring 2025

Chapter 2 — Our approach

Portuguese craftsmanship, a deliberate choice.

To produce Elya, we chose Portugal. Not for the image, not for the marketing angle — for the craftsmanship. Portuguese textile workshops are among the most advanced in Europe when it comes to seamless knit. Precise cuts, line-free finishes, quality control on every piece. It's here, in a family-run workshop 90 km from Porto, that our shapewear is born.

Our fabric — a 78% nylon, 22% elastane blend, circular-knitted — removes the seams that mark the skin. Seamless technology allows progressive compression: firm where it's needed, soft where you breathe. The result: a piece that shapes without constraining, that can be worn for hours without discomfort, and that literally disappears under a fitted dress.

Every style goes through a cycle of prototypes, real-world wear tests and adjustments. When a piece of shapewear leaves the workshop to become an Elya piece, it has passed every test — including the full-day one.

Chapter 3 — Our commitments

Three principles that never change.

  • Comfort without compromise

    Shapewear should be forgotten against the skin. If it marks, compresses, or makes breathing laboured, it's not an Elya piece. Our fabrics are designed to last 14 hours without ever making themselves felt.

  • Portuguese craftsmanship

    Production 90 km from Porto, in family-run workshops. European working conditions and full traceability from thread to finished product. No cheap far-flung production — quality starts with the hands that make it.

  • Absolute invisibility

    Under a fitted dress, high-waisted trousers or leggings — an Elya piece must disappear. Laser-cut edges on the invisible styles, flat finishes, a discreet mesh veil. The silhouette is sculpted, the underwear no longer exists.

Material commitments

What makes an Elya piece.

  • Manufacturing Portugal — a family-run workshop 90 km from Porto, three generations of European textile craftsmanship.
  • Composition 78% nylon polyamide / 22% elastane — circular-knitted with no seams, latest-generation seamless technology.
  • European standard Fabrics compliant with the REACH regulation (European Union) — strict control of the chemical substances used in textile production.
  • Sizes 2XS to 2XL — FR 32 to 48 equivalents, designed to fit every body shape without compromise.
  • Durability Designed for 2 to 3 years of regular use with the right care (hand wash at 30°C, dry flat).
  • Returns Within 14 days in all countries we deliver to.

Our promise

Shapewear you wear from morning to night, that's never visible, and that asks no compromise of your body. That's what Elya must be, in every single piece.

The road so far

From an idea to your wardrobe.

  1. Spring 2025

    The idea

    Clara begins the project: fabric research, first contacts with Portuguese workshops, initial prototypes.

  2. Summer 2025

    The right workshop

    After several visits, a family-run workshop 90 km from Porto is chosen. The first seamless prototypes begin.

  3. Autumn 2025

    The wear tests

    3 months of real-world wear tests on 12 different body shapes. Adjustments to cuts, compression and lengths.

  4. 2026

    The launch

    18 styles across 3 collections (bodysuits, knickers, shorts), sizes 2XS to 2XL, delivery to France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland.