Eco-lingerie by The End, proving there’s nothing sexier than saving the earth”

Get your kink on with designer Bei Kuo’s strappy environmentally-friendly smalls.

Bei Kuo likes being naked. I don’t see it as sexual,” the New York-based designer says over FaceTime – fully-clothed, we might add. It can be,” she clarifies, but either way, I don’t mind.”

Born and raised in Taiwan, Kuo admits she didn’t always have this attitude. I grew up in a culture where everything about sexuality is so behind,” she explains, praising NYC’s open-minded approach to dating. Once I started dating multiple people, I became more comfortable with my own skin. Now I don’t see sex as wrong thing.”

Armed with this new mindset – as well as a prestigious MA in Design from Parsons – Kuo started her tastefully audacious lingerie brand The End in 2016. Its twisted, BDSM-leaning undergarments are inspired by her boyfriend’s body piercings, with odd-ball bralettes dotted with silver hoops to emulate pierced nipples. To match, there are also slinky G‑strings, cut-out briefs and garters featuring punk-adjacent chunky hoops, finished with racy fishnet bodysuits.

But it’s not just about the undies. The End’s founding ethos is also centred on its creator’s core belief that eco-friendly can be hot too”.

After years of studying and working in fashion, you can really understand why [it] is one of the most polluting industries,” says the thirtysomething, alluding to the 1,715 million tones of CO2 the industry was responsible for emitting in 2019. I started The End because I wanted to make myself organic, environmentally-friendly lingerie that I actually wanted to wear.”

Each piece is consciously crafted using organic cotton, with 95 per cent of the packaging – from the box down to the shipping tape – constructed from recyclable and biodegradable material. Additionally, the label works alongside non-profit organisation One Tree Planted to do just that for every product sold. After all, there’s nothing sexier than saving the earth”.

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The End is also the latest women-helmed lingerie label to champion inclusivity, from Rihanna’s boundary-busting Savage x Fenty, to newcomer Dora Larsen’s empoweringly delicate intimates. And in the wake of historically-problematic, male-run underwear merchants Victoria’s Secret permanently cancelling their catwalk in 2019, Bei Kuo is firmly on the right side of, well, herstory.

I like to think our customers are people who dress for themselves, not dress to please others,” she concludes. Whatever their size, ethnicity or age, I want them to feel sexy wearing The End.”

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