Today we’d like to introduce you to Lucia Shapiro.
Hi Lucia, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Taylor (co-founder of Covvier) and I, and other set costumers & wardrobe departments, struggled every time we had to work on intimacy and s*x scenes. There were no standard garments for actors to use. “Modesty garments” existed, but mostly just for a nude shot, not in the capacity we needed them for with simulated s*x scenes with lots of movement and physicality. We were often making garments on the fly, stuffing them with random pieces of foam, shoe inserts, iron pads, etc. to create some sort of barrier between actors. This was before there were Intimacy Coordinators on set to enforce a multitude of new protocols during the filming of s*x and intimate scenes. After doing a job with a heavy amount of various intimate scenes, and creating garments nearly daily, it came to our realization that our jobs would be easier, and actors could stay safer (physically and emotionally), if a standard garment was created. It’s taken a lot of time and effort to get to where we are now – years of struggling on set, and all the effort has been worth it! We’ve gotten really great feedback of how protected actors feel using and wearing our garments, which was always our main goal , in creating them. We still have many more designs we want to create, and are hoping it can all happen sooner than later .
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has been going pretty well for us.. but it definitely has come with a lot of bumps…including having to learn the garment business, find and work with factories, learn how run a business in general, learn the ins and outs of international shipping, and learn how to set up a website and how to do maintenance work on it. On top of all of that, I still work on set – up to 70 hr weeks sometimes, and Taylor has 2 babies…And we run the business from two different states. So, as mainly smooth as it’s gone, it’s filled with challenges that we deal with daily.
We’ve been impressed with Covvier, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Covvier is the first company in the US, to make specific, protective intimacy garments. We work closely with Intimacy Coordinators , and have gotten a lot of actor input to make sure our garments make performers feel safe and feel secure on the body . We are most proud of the fact that we are making products to help change the culture around s*x and intimacy in film. It feels so good to get positive feedback from the people wearing and working with these garments, since we have been working in film and tv , long before anything like this was ever existed. We are so proud to know that we can make an actor’s day better after having to do these very vulnerable scenes . We want everyone to know that we are shipping internationally too! Check our website to see where we ship! And of course, we continue to work hard to re stock as fast as we can, and we are always thinking of new designs to come up with, test, and have ready for the website! Check us out!
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
New York Times , The Daily podcast every day, always listening to NPR and read the New York Times as much as possible . We have to know what’s going on in the world, if we want to have a say in it!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.covvier.com
- Instagram: @covvier_garments
Image Credits
Lola Uehlinger