The SHAPE Story: Why It Started
The short answer: SHAPE was founded in Dhaka in 2019 by Monoshita Ayruani, because she could not find a bra that fit her, and found that talking about it was considered wrong. It is a women's innerwear brand that works with women's bodies, drafted for Bengali bodies specifically, and sold with a free private fitting. More than 200,000 women have found their fit with us. Seven stores in Dhaka. Still an uphill battle, on purpose.
"It's a small brand," is how our founder still introduces it. Here is the rest, mostly in her words.
Why it started
"Creating SHAPE has honestly been an uphill battle, because in Bangladesh, in the context we live in, effectively talking about women's bodies is considered wrong. It's not just about finding the right undergarment. It's about figuring out what body type you have, how comfortable you are in your own skin, and what works for you, because what works for you won't work for five other people. We have a very unique structure as Bengali women."
The personal part she puts simply: if she should ever have a daughter, she does not want her to go through what girls of her generation went through growing up in Bangladesh, because of the stigma around, simply, women's bodies. That thought is what started SHAPE.
What makes it different
- Drafted for Bengali bodies. "As Bengali women we have a very unique, curvy body structure. It is what it is; it is not better or worse than anything. But because we are unique and nobody was making products specifically for us, the products fit better when we know the body we are designing for. At SHAPE, we design for Bengali bodies." Lean torso, fuller bust, wire-free by design.
- Fit first, sale second. A free private fitting, in store or on WhatsApp, before anything is sold. "We want to help you find your right size. You don't have to buy from us." Here is what happens in a fitting.
- The conversation itself. A brand that says out loud what women were taught to keep quiet: pain is not normal, and your body was never the problem.
What it has cost, and what it has built
Seven years. Seven stores in Dhaka, three of them opened in one season of 2026 (the founder's letter on the seventh store). More than 200,000 women fitted, and over 51,000 of them talking to each other every day in the Girl Talk community. Written about in The Daily Star, The Business Standard and Dhaka Tribune; a Stanford Seed Spark company in 2022; a TEDxUniversityofDhaka talk in 2025. None of which is the point.
The goal
"As millennials growing up, when we hung a bra to dry on the balcony, we covered it with an orna. That is still how it is in Bangladesh, because there is so much shame attached to this one product. My goal is that some day, whether it takes ten years or twenty, a bra is just a piece of fabric, the way an orna is, the way a bedsheet is. I want it not to be seen with so much shame. That is the vision for SHAPE."
Where to start with us
Read the fit test to see whether your bra fits. Use the Bust Size Calculator and the SHAPE size chart to find your letter. Or skip both and send two numbers to WhatsApp +880 1322 881062. Everything else in The Fitting Room follows from there.
Questions women ask us
Who founded SHAPE?
Monoshita Ayruani, in Dhaka, in 2019.
Is SHAPE a Bangladeshi brand?
Yes. Designed in Dhaka for Bengali bodies, sold in seven Dhaka stores and online across Bangladesh.
Why wire-free?
Because a wire that does not sit exactly digs in by hour fifteen, and lift comes from the band and the cup anyway. Here is where lift really comes from.
How do I get in touch with the founder?
She reads what women write to us. Message the fit team; the ones that need her reach her.
Free, private fittings. Every SHAPE fitting is free and private, in our stores or on WhatsApp, and you never have to buy. WhatsApp +880 1322 881062 · Find a store
Part of The Fitting Room by SHAPE.
