Origins: International Latex Corporation

The history of Playtex predates the brand name itself. In 1932, inventor and industrialist Abraham Nathaniel Spanel founded the International Latex Corporation (ILC) in Rochester, New York. The company specialised in latex-based products, developing items such as gloves, bathing caps, swimwear, and baby products. Spanel reportedly held more than 2,000 patents related to latex technology.[2]

During the 1930s and 1940s, ILC expanded into women’s apparel. Latex technology allowed the company to manufacture foundation garments designed to shape the body while providing greater flexibility than some traditional materials.

1947: Birth of Playtex

The Playtex division was created in 1947 when ILC was reorganised. The name “Playtex” was formed from the words “play” and “latex”.[2]

The brand initially became associated with innovative latex-based women’s foundation garments. One of its early successes was the Living Girdle, which was marketed around durability, flexibility, and comfort.[2] This established a central theme that would remain associated with Playtex for decades: combining functional support with everyday comfort.

Cross Your Heart

One of the most influential products in the brand’s history was the Cross Your Heart bra, introduced in the 1950s. Official company history dates this iconic model to 1954, while Hanesbrands describes the Cross Your Heart bra as becoming a major household name following its later development and marketing.[2][3]

The design became famous for its cross-over construction and the advertising slogan:

“Lifts and Separates”

This marketing helped make Playtex one of the most recognisable names in American women’s foundation garments.

Television advertising

Playtex was also a significant pioneer in advertising lingerie on television. According to the company’s historical account, Playtex became the first brand to advertise lingerie on television in 1955.[2]

This move was notable because women’s underwear had traditionally been considered too private or controversial for mainstream television advertising. Playtex subsequently became known for memorable campaigns that emphasised comfort, shaping, and confidence rather than treating lingerie purely as fashion.

Another defining product was the Playtex 18 Hour bra. The range originated in the 1960s and became famous for its emphasis on extended comfort and support. The brand’s European history describes the original 18 Hour range as using latex construction with micro-perforations designed to provide support while allowing the skin to breathe.[2]

Hanesbrands identifies the 18 Hour bra as one of the products that helped establish Playtex as a household name, alongside Cross Your Heart.[3] The concept became particularly important to the brand’s identity because it represented a core proposition: a bra should provide strong support without sacrificing comfort. The 18 Hour collection remains associated with the Playtex brand today.[4]

Playtex did not remain solely a lingerie company. During the 1960s, the company expanded into feminine-care products and introduced tampons. These became an important competitor to Tampax, then one of the dominant brands in the category.[1]

In 1973, Playtex patented a plastic tampon applicator, an innovation that became a vital part of the company’s feminine-care business.[1] The company subsequently developed several tampon lines, including Gentle Glide and Playtex Sport.[1]

The feminine-care business also became involved in the broader controversy surrounding highly absorbent tampons and toxic shock syndrome (TSS) during the late 1970s and 1980s. Playtex was among the tampon manufacturers involved in litigation related to the issue.[1]

One of the more unusual chapters in the corporate history involves space exploration. The industrial side of International Latex Corporation developed specialised pressure garments and spacesuits. This work eventually contributed to the spacesuits used by astronauts during the Apollo programme.

The industrial division was later separated from the consumer business and became ILC Dover in 1967. Thus, the historical connection to the Apollo programme is primarily through the former parent company’s specialised engineering division rather than today’s Playtex lingerie business.[1] This illustrates how the same underlying expertise in latex, flexible materials, and protective garments was applied to both consumer products and highly specialised aerospace equipment.

The corporate history of Playtex is complex due to numerous acquisitions and reorganisations.

1970s–1980s

In 1975, Playtex was acquired by Esmark. Esmark was subsequently acquired by Beatrice Foods in the 1980s. In 1986, Playtex underwent a management buyout.[1]

In 1988, the business was divided into separate operations, most importantly:

• Playtex Apparel — focused on lingerie and apparel.
• Playtex Products — focused on consumer products such as feminine care and baby-care products.

This separation explains why the Playtex trademark today can appear on products controlled by different companies.

Playtex Apparel

The apparel business was acquired by Sara Lee Corporation in 1991. It subsequently became part of Hanesbrands in 2006–2007 as Sara Lee’s apparel businesses were reorganised and separated.[3]

Hanesbrands continues to market Playtex intimate apparel, particularly in North America. The company’s current positioning emphasises full-figure bras, comfort, support, and inclusive sizing.[5]

Playtex Products

The consumer-products side followed a different corporate path. Playtex Products became part of Energizer Holdings, which later separated its household and personal-care brands into Edgewell Personal Care in 2015.

Over subsequent years, Edgewell sold various Playtex-branded businesses. The infant and pet-care business, for example, was sold to Angelcare in 2019. Household gloves were also separated from Edgewell.[1]

Most recently, in February 2026, Essity acquired the global feminine-care rights to the Playtex brand from Edgewell.[1] Consequently, it is more accurate to view Playtex today as a licensed global brand with different category owners rather than as one vertically integrated company.

Women’s lingerie

Women’s intimate apparel remains the most recognisable part of the Playtex brand. Major products and collections have included:

• Cross Your Heart
• 18 Hour
• Playtex Secrets
• Ideal Beauty
• Ideal Posture
• Flower Elegance
• Essential Elegance
• Perfect Silhouette
• Shapewear
• Panties

The modern European Playtex brand describes itself as a lingerie specialist with more than 70 years of expertise, emphasising comfort, support, elegance, and fit.[2][6]

Feminine care

Historically, Playtex became a major name in feminine hygiene, especially through tampons. Important products included:

• Gentle Glide
• Playtex Sport
• Other Playtex tampon products with different absorbency levels

Gentle Glide, introduced in the 1970s, became one of the brand’s best-known feminine-care products.[1] The ownership of this part of the brand is now separate from Playtex lingerie.

Baby care

At various points in its corporate history, Playtex also marketed baby-care products, including:

• Baby bottles
• Bottle liners
• Nipples
• Feeding accessories
• Baby-care products

The Playtex Products company built a significant baby-care portfolio, but these operations were subsequently sold to other companies. For example, the infant and pet-care business was acquired by Angelcare in 2019.[1]

Household products

Playtex has also historically been associated with household gloves, another category that originated from its expertise in latex. These products are no longer part of a single unified Playtex consumer-products company, illustrating the fragmented ownership structure of the brand today.[1]

Playtex has historically occupied a somewhat different position from fashion-oriented lingerie brands. Its core proposition has generally been functional femininity. The brand emphasises:

• Comfort
• Support
• Fit
• Body shaping
• Practicality
• Durability
• Everyday wear
• Solutions for fuller or harder-to-fit figures

Hanesbrands currently describes Playtex as a brand designed for women seeking supportive full-figure bras and states that its products are intended to accommodate different body shapes.[5] In Europe, the positioning is similarly centred on combining comfort, support, and aesthetics.[6]

Innovation

Innovation has been an important part of the historical identity of Playtex. Notable examples include:

1. Latex foundation garments — using the company’s original material expertise to create flexible supportive underwear.
2. Living Girdle — an early major foundation-garment product.
3. Cross Your Heart bra — one of the brand’s signature bra designs.
4. 18 Hour bra — a product built around extended comfort and support.
5. Plastic tampon applicator — patented by Playtex in 1973.
6. Specialised aerospace garments — developed by the former ILC industrial division for spaceflight.

The common thread is the use of materials and construction techniques to solve practical problems rather than simply following fashion trends.

The modern European lingerie business has increasingly incorporated sustainability into its product development. Playtex states that it began introducing products made with more sustainable materials in 2021, including products using organic cotton and certifications such as GOTS or OCS. In 2022, it introduced recycled-material versions of some of its Classic Lace Support and Classic Cotton Support lines.[2]

In 2024, Playtex expanded this approach with a recycled version of its Flower Elegance collection.[2] This represents an evolution of the brand: from its historical emphasis on synthetic and latex-based innovation toward incorporating recycled and organically sourced materials into contemporary lingerie.

Playtex has had a substantial cultural impact, particularly in the United States. The Cross Your Heart advertising campaign became famous for its “lifts and separates” positioning, while the 18 Hour name became closely associated with comfort-oriented bras.

The brand was also notable for helping make lingerie advertising acceptable on mainstream television during the 1950s. Its advertising history is therefore part of the broader development of modern consumer advertising and women’s fashion marketing.[2]

A key point when discussing Playtex in 2026 is that “Playtex” does not represent one single operating company worldwide. The situation can be summarised roughly as follows:

The exact corporate structure varies by country, product category, and trademark jurisdiction, so seeing “Playtex” on two different products does not necessarily mean they are manufactured or owned by the same company.[1]

Today, the most visible identity of Playtex is women’s lingerie, particularly bras designed around support and comfort. The current European Playtex store describes the brand as a lingerie specialist with more than seven decades of corsetry expertise and continues to sell products such as Cross Your Heart, Flower Elegance, Essential Elegance, and other support-focused collections.[2][6]

In North America, Playtex remains strongly associated with full-figure bras, especially the 18 Hour collection. Hanesbrands continues to position it around comfort, dependable fit, and support.[4]

Overall significance

Playtex is significant because its history spans several very different areas of consumer and industrial innovation. What began with latex technology in the 1930s developed into a major women’s foundation-garment business, then expanded into feminine hygiene, baby care, and household products. Its history also intersects with television advertising, aerospace engineering, women’s fashion, and consumer-product innovation.

Its most enduring legacy, however, is probably its influence on supportive women’s underwear. Products such as Cross Your Heart and 18 Hour helped establish a model of lingerie in which comfort, fit, and functional support were central selling points rather than secondary considerations.[2]

In short, Playtex evolved from a pioneering American latex company into a multinational consumer brand, and ultimately into a collection of separately managed businesses sharing one of the most recognisable names in women’s intimate apparel and feminine care.

1. Playtex
2. Brand history | PLAYTEX
3. Playtex
4. Playtex® | Gildan
5. Playtex
6. PLAYTEX | Women’s Lingerie, Comfort & Support bras, Shapewear