For over 30 years, Canadian lingerie brand Allure has been doing things differently. It’s a defining characteristic of the company, one that dates back to its roots as an adult retailer and underlies its current reputation as a design house. Owner-designer George Makar seems quite incapable of imitation.
The lingerie world is known for rapidly cycling through fleeting trends, yet the names Makar and Allure have become well-established due to a capacity for producing a high output of new releases without compromising on style or uniqueness. Such an intense workflow would likely be impossible were it not for Makar’s enduring love for creation, novelty and a good challenge.
“I absolutely love what I do,” declares Makar. “I have never considered what I do to be work. I have always looked at it as, ‘What am I going to create today?’ To me, that is not work; that is a strong passion to create, and I love that aspect of my job. I never slow down. If the train is moving forward, you never put on the brakes.”
Before hopping on board that train, Makar worked for one of the biggest hotel chains in the world, hosting and organizing large functions. Eventually he moved over to hotel industry sales, but did not find it sufficiently challenging or creative.
“I started looking for new ventures, and quickly realized that there were no lingerie stores on the busiest street in Toronto,” he recalls. “That is when I decided to open my first store.”
Makar’s first brick-and-mortar debuted in 1992 under the name Sweet Sensations. Shortly after opening his second retail location, he changed the name to Allure and began designing proprietary leather lingerie and accessories under the moniker Allure Leather.
“I have always loved creating and designing, as far back as I can remember,” Makar says. “I wanted to create leather lingerie that was tasteful, sexy and appealing to all women — rather than what was available at the time, which was very limited to S&M-type lingerie styles.”
Initially, Makar did just that. Then, in 2003, he branched out into the strappy, lacy and meshy designs that have come to define his collections today. However, he has remained carefully choosy when mapping Allure’s production path, to avoid diluting the company’s product lines by simply tossing in anything and everything that might sell.
“I am a strong believer in the idea that if you want to be everything, you become nothing,” advises Makar. “Allure has remained true to its brand. We have never gotten into hosiery or costumes and have always stayed close to our original vision as much as we can. We maintain our focus on designing, as to me, lingerie is all about design and comfort.”
Makar also sees having been a retailer for many years as an advantage.
“I always think from the retailer’s perspective,” he says. “I consider the best price point, as well as what works and what doesn’t in terms of design and functionality.”
Visitors to AllureLingerie.com encounter not just design and functionality, but female empowerment.
“The Allure woman,” we are told, is eternally cool, with an identity that “breaks all the rules, because she chooses to interpret the world through her own lens that is forever changing with her mood. She doesn’t need approval because she simply lives to make herself happy.”
Today, companies like Makar’s make female customers their focal point. Contrast that with the adult retail environment of the early 1990s, when Allure was launched. Back then, lingerie was more likely to be a “naughty” gift given to a woman by a boyfriend, husband or lover.
“When Allure Lingerie first started, most adult stores sold predominantly adult toys and had a higher percentage of male customers,” Makar reflects. “Today, adult stores have evolved into intimate boutiques that cater to women and couples.
Over the decades, Allure and the pleasure sector have grown together. Today, Makar’s long-standing dedication to taking the road less traveled fits in better than ever with the current lingerie market as he sees it.
“The new generation wants to express their individuality when they choose a piece of lingerie,” Makar explains. “The cookie-cutter approach to lingerie is not appealing, as every style must be as unique as the woman wearing it.”
Kitten, as the name suggests, is a playful line. It features barely-there getups that leave little to the imagination, and tight yet light-wearing pieces with a youthful, modern feel.
The Adore line turns up the heat with trendier “domme” styles sporting curve-outlining straps that make a bold statement. Adore blends fashionable mesh fabrics with crisscrossing adjustable straps worthy of Donatella Versace or Lady Gaga.
Allure, the company’s namesake brand, currently showcases flexible, wet-look designs with a kinky edge; classic, lacy panties in red and black lace; and defiantly sexy styles of bodices and bikinis, corsets and bustiers, and teddies and babydolls and that beautifully blend the traditional and the trendsetting.
Last but not least, Makar’s Diva collection encompasses the very best of Allure’s multiple style lines, in plus sizes.
Of course, being a lingerie designer also means hitting “refresh” on the regular.
“Today’s customers are always looking for something new, rather than wearing the same item multiple times,” observes Makar. “That’s why you see lingerie companies offering new releases every few months.”
Note to veterans of the pleasure space: If you think churning out new vibrators a handful of times per year is exhausting, try George Makar’s job on for size.
“I am in constant communication with my design team and always working on the next collection,” he admits. “I also spend a lot of time working with factories.”
As Makar concludes another successful year with the Allure team, he expresses enthusiasm over the prospect of “enjoying a game of golf now and then” in 2025, but is hesitant to spill secrets about future designs and releases.
“I cannot say too much — no spoiler alerts at the moment,” he says. “But we are so excited to unveil our new collections and new vision in the upcoming months.”
He does promise, however, that the company will be heading full-speed ahead as usual into the new year.
