Inspired by bengkung

A centuries-old Malaysian tradition, in a single piece

Bengkung is a long cloth, wrapped in overlapping layers to hold the lower tummy and support the back after birth. That is where we started.

Why we made this

Formare began with one observation: most shapewear is designed to hide, not to hold. Hooks, Velcro, stiff panels  pieces you wear for an hour and take off at the first chance you get.

We spent a long time on the body after birth: where it genuinely needs support, and where it needs to be left alone to breathe. The further we went, the more we kept arriving at the same answer  one that had already existed for hundreds of years, in a simple Malaysian practice called bengkung.

We did not invent anything. We redesigned something that already worked.

Bengkung: three principles

In Malaysia, a mother is wrapped after birth in a long cloth, drawn tight layer over layer. The idea was never the pressure. It was how the pressure is spread.

  • 01

    Criss-cross wrapping

    Support comes from layers crossing over one another, not from a single point pressing in. That is how the tummy is held without being squeezed.

  • 02

    From the bottom up

    The wrap begins below the tummy and rises. It lifts and carries, instead of pushing inward.

  • 03

    All the way around

    Front, sides and back. The tradition never knew the idea of tightening the front alone.

How we translated it

Criss-cross wrapping

Criss-cross panels

Instead of cloth wound by hand each morning, the criss-cross is built into the piece.

From the bottom up

High-rise waist

A high waistband that carries the lower tummy and draws the line of the waist.

All the way around

360° design

Front, sides and back exactly as in the original.

Cloth worn unseen

Seamless finish

Seamless edges, so nothing shows under your clothes. It stays between you and you.

What we are, and what we are not

Formare is everyday shapewear, inspired by the Malaysian bengkung tradition. We are not a medical product, and we make no therapeutic claims.

If you have recently given birth or had a C-section, please check with your doctor before wearing any shaping garment.

One piece, worn like everyday underwear, working like a centuries-old tradition.

Discover the piece

Formare