“I’ve been a fan of Spanx for the last five years,” said Atlanta public relations maven Kitsy Rose, who has a wardrobe of Spanx bras and slips to keep her smooth under body-skimming clothes. “I wasn’t living in the time of girdles, but I remember my grandmother never left the house without one, which I never understood. Now, with the variety of products, I think they are kind of a necessary object,” Rose said.

It’s been almost a decade since Spanx revolutionized the hosiery industry. While the smoothing apparel definitely isn’t your grandmother’s girdle, it has introduced a new generation of women to foundation garments. Atlanta-based Spanx founder Sara Blakely has become an industry icon. Few haven’t heard the story of how a then 20-something Blakely snipped the feet from her pantyhose in search of the right undergarment to wear with her cream-colored pants. After two years of research and refinement, Spanx hit store shelves in 2000 boosting a stodgy male-dominated apparel category to one that was stylish, hip and female-centric.

“For the first time, we were women talking to other women about issues that before us had never been voiced,” said Spanx CEO Laurie Ann Goldman. “People thought about panty lines, but they didn’t talk about it.”

Suddenly women were showing their Spanx all over the place. Today Spanx has 85 employees and three brands including the classic Spanx, the lower-priced Assets, ranging from $12 to $35, and the new Haute Contour, a high-end fashion line of shapewear, retailing from $88 to $200.

They also have a lot of company in the shapewear segment, including at least two other Atlanta area businesses. All of them give kudos to Blakely for opening up the category they are squeezing into just as women squeeze into the garments they make.

Shapewear is the only category of intimate apparel currently on the rise, according to recent data from NPD Group.

“There’s a lot of interest in making sure women are smooth with no bra lines and no rolls showing,” said Susan Nethero, the “Bra Whisperer” of Intimacy boutiques. “We sell more Spanx in small sizes than we do in big sizes.”

Smoothing was the primary goal of Amanda Kennedy, founder of Los-Angeles based Sassybax, which launched in 2004 with the Torso Trim, designed to eliminate bra bulge, back fat and visible bra lines. Kennedy had also created prototypes of cut-up control-top pantyhose before her line of seamless tops was scooped up by Neiman Marcus. Recently, she has focused on bottoms as well, with a long leg panty that minimizes the tummy, slims thighs and gives bottoms a boost.

Most shapewear brands offer some version of tops, bottoms and bras, leaving the average consumer to wonder just how each of the brands is different.

“Shapewear is a lot like jewelry; not every piece works with every outfit but you can mix and match and really find a foundation that empowers you to look your best,” said Amy Pedersen, co-founder of Marietta-based Slimpressions.

For Pedersen and her sister-in-law, Jennifer Daniels, flabby arms led to a line of shapewear with sleeves. The Haves, a sleeved top with below-the-waist tummy control went to market in 2008. They now have 10 products including bras and high-waisted control briefs. Pedersen’s thinking was, “If I’ve got arm flab, I’ve got flab on the bottom too,” she said.

In recent years, shapewear has been moving into new territory. Lawrenceville-based Marena Everyday is using their 15 years of knowhow in post-operative compression garments to appeal to consumers who don’t just want to look smoother and sleeker, but a little smaller as well.

“Our most important benefit is that you will slim down no less than two inches off your waist and hips,” said Alex Knezevic, director of Internet services for Marena Everyday. The company even purchased a body scanner to make sure they are shrinking women more than other shapewear makers. “Women want something more,” Knezevic said, “The coolness of Spanx, but something that will nip and tuck a little more.”

The company now has a line of shapewear tops and bottoms for women, and (in a soon to be duplicated twist) men, who are responsible for 40 percent of the company’s shapewear sales. For now, the line is only available online, but there are plans to enter retail stores by 2011, said product manager Monika Thiels.

By then, shapewear will surely have shape-shifted once again. “I feel it is heading into not hiding the shapewear,” said Thiels. “Shapewear is becoming outerwear.”

The Atlanta Journal Constitution