Snag Tights, the Oxfordshire hosiery business founded after its creator suffered an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction, has secured a seven-figure investment from former Dragons’ Den investor James Caan after sales reached £54 million.
Brie Read, 45, launched the company after her tights fell down while she was walking along George Street in Edinburgh in autumn 2017. She recalled: “I looked up and saw that at least 100 people were watching.”
The incident prompted Read to develop tights designed to fit a wider range of body shapes. She used her savings and loans from friends and family to pursue the idea, with her partner Tom building the company’s website.
Snag went live at 11pm on March 1 2018. Read said sales began arriving the following morning, and soon reached £100,000 a month. The business sold 300,000 pairs of tights in its first year.
Read later left her job and said turnover had reached £2 million a month by late 2019. The company subsequently expanded its range to include underwear, leggings and other clothing.
Snag Tights targets a wider market
Snag’s tights are available in sizes 4 to 36, with prices starting at £9.49. The company says one pair is sold every ten seconds.
Read said conventional manufacturing methods often focused on leg length rather than body width. “I found that an extra large pair of tights usually had no more room around the hips; it just had longer legs,” she said.
Snag’s products are made by a small business in Northern Italy using what the company describes as an extra-soft and durable proprietary yarn, with the designs produced in a full range of widths.
The business operates six websites serving the UK, US, Australia, Canada, Germany and the European Union. It employs 120 people, most of whom work remotely.
Read has defended the company’s decision to use models across a range of body types rather than relying on conventional lingerie advertising. She said inclusivity made both commercial and ethical sense, despite criticism of its campaigns.
She said the emphasis on fit had also helped reduce returns. “Online fashion return rates average about 40pc. Our return rate is 2pc,” Read said.
Caan described the figure as “commercially compelling”, saying that high return rates reduced profitability and created unnecessary waste. He added: “By designing for a broader customer base, the business opens up a significantly larger market opportunity. I back founders with conviction, and Brie has built something genuinely disruptive.”
Customers helped company through pandemic
The company faced a serious threat during the Covid pandemic, when working from home reduced demand for tights. Read said Snag’s finance team warned that it was running out of money.
She responded by launching a “Save Our Snag” campaign through social media, offering customers a buy-one-get-one-free deal. “Within days we had raised £1.25 million. Our customers bailed us out,” she said.
The campaign was supported by the company’s online community, including 50,000 Instagram followers known as “Snagglers” and 100,000 Facebook followers.
Read said Caan’s experience would help the business move “further and faster”. Snag’s range now includes seasonal products such as Halloween tights and 80-denier opaque tights for winter.
