In the world of lingerie, Leonisa stands out as an iconic brand that has left its mark throughout its history. Since its humble beginnings in 1956 in Colombia, it has managed to become a leading company in the design and manufacture of lingerie and underwear. With a focus on quality, innovation and customer satisfaction, Leonisa has managed to earn the trust of women around the world. Here we tell you in broad strokes how this emblematic brand has evolved over the years,
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Leonisa’s history dates back to 1956 in Guatapé, Antioquia, where the Urrea brothers, Marco Aurelio, Joaquín, Luis Enrique and Julio, started this company, according to reports, with only 15 pesos. In their early years, they sold fabrics, shirts, underwear, stockings, and other products in the towns of Antioquia.
However, in the 1950s, taking advantage of the coffee boom in some Colombian departments, they moved to Armenia and opened their first store called Volga. The success of this was remarkable during the first years, but the situation in the region began to deteriorate, which led the brothers to return to Antioquia.
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The beginning of corporate identity
Once back in their native region, there was a workshop and they acquired machines to make shirts. Using the leftover fabrics, decide to venture into the creation of underwear. This is how the reference 1000 emerged, which was in great demand and led the brothers to focus exclusively on making intimate garments.
With the decision to dedicate itself to underwear, the need arose to find a suitable name for the brand. The brothers highly valued the letter «L» because their grandmother’s name was Ludovica. Initially consider calling the brand «Leona». However, they were looking for something more feminine, In addition to the fact that there were already other registered trademarks with that name. This is how he proposed the current name: Leonisa.
The 1,000 reference became a key point for the future of the company, as it saturated the market and the brothers realized that the product had the potential to be successful in other countries. In 1963 they were already exporting their first garments to Costa Rica and finally, in 1966 they created Leonisa Internacional.
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Advances for the company continued. In 1989, Leonisa entered the European market by first establishing itself in Spain, and later expanding to the UK, Germany, France and Italy. This strategy allowed him to consolidate his brand in the international market.
In 1993, the company implemented a catalog sales channel that allowed customers to directly purchase Leonisa garments on a monthly basis. Currently, this catalog sales channel is present in various countries such as United States, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Chile, Guatemala and Puerto Rico.
And finally in June 2009, they went digital by launching their online store, initially targeting the US and Canadian markets. Since then, this website has expanded its presence to more than 12 countries and makes sales to more than 120 nations. This online platform has enabled Leonisa to reach a global audience, providing easy and convenient access to its products to customers around the world.
Family problems were not lacking
During its years of growth, it is necessary to highlight that Leonisa’s performance was always optimal, however, there were differences in decisions that were strategic to manage the company, so in 1972 Luis and Marcos Urrea withdrew from the company and created a new company: Confecciones Lumar, which would be absorbed by Leonisa over the years.
In the family aspect, everything was going well for the company, however, after the death of Julio Urrea Urrea in 2003, a family dispute broke out between his daughters: Myriam, Margarita Rosa and Ana Patricia Urrea Jiménez and the eleven children of Joaquín Urrea.
The subject of disagreement was the distribution of the company’s profits. While Julio’s daughters defended the criteria that the profits be reinvested in Leonisa, Joaquín’s wanted to distribute the profits to diversify the businesses.
Finally, in 2004, Leonisa’s partners reached an agreement for a single family to assume control. As each of the families had respectively 50 percent of the company, With the help of the Superintendence of Companies, the Urrea Jiménez sisters sold their shares through a private auction mechanism.
A new foray into the market
Throughout its history, Leonisa has remained at the forefront as one of the brands preferred by Colombians. She has been a promoter of beauty pageants and has even kept innovation in her releases, however, she recently added a new milestone in her history.
According to Mall & Retail reports, the family has entered the mall market through its venture capital fund, Vertical Partners. It is known that they have signed an agreement to buy 20 percent of the company that controls Wow Concept to Vertical Partners, which belongs to Leonisa. That makes them the second largest shareholder.
Wow Concept is a style of shopping centers that differs from the traditional ones by offering a more exclusive and differentiated experience. So far, the contracts signed will reach a sum of five million euros.
This foray into the shopping center market represents a business diversification strategy by the Urrea family. Building on the success of Wow Concept in Spain, exploring new opportunities in the retail and consumer sector, offering unique experiences to customers and collaborating with recognized brands in a physical and digital environment.
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