Libresse’s brand purpose is to create a world where women can be more confident with their bodies, thus living the life they want by breaking taboos surrounding their intimate area (the V-zone).

The V-zone, has a deep-rooted stigma in Malaysia.

The brand’s "Global V Taboo Tracker" survey revealed that:

50% of Malaysian women will never speak about their V

1 in 3 felt sorry for the way their vulva looks

56% of Malaysian teens would rather get bullied than to talk about periods.

The lack of conversation and awareness of the V-zone has led to serious social issues like genital mutilation, sexual grooming, period spot checks in schools and undiagnosed endometriosis.

Libresse wanted to get Malaysians talking about the V-zone to break the taboo. And through this effort, gain more users by being the brand that makes Malaysian women feel confident about themselves and their V-zones.

Although the agenda of gender equality is gaining traction in Malaysia, the country is still very much a patriarchal society where men has autonomy over women’s sexuality. Matters concerning women’s sexuality are usually not discussed openly and is restricted within the family and religious leaders. This often lead to misinformation about periods and the V-zone, further fuelling the stigma.

These misconceptions have become so ingrained in culture that even women perpetuate these taboos against themselves. They not only keep silent about their intimate area, but also feel pressured to maintain a certain image of it. Many still think that there’s such a thing as a perfect vulva and vagina. Thus feeding the insecurity amongst women and girls.

What’s worst is that all these happen under the guise of religion, making it even harder to challenge.

So Libresse needed to be really tactful in their effort to normalise conversations about the V- zone, or risk being banned. The aggressive ways that the brand adopt in the western world cannot be applied to Malaysia.

The Vulva Kebaya campaign had just the right elements to spark conversations around a taboo topic, while still being acceptable to the Malaysian majority.

To break a deep-rooted taboo, we looked into the local history and culture for something that had inspired Malaysian women to be comfortable with their bodies, so that the conversation would resonate with Malaysians.

We found that in an iconic piece of Malaysian fashion, the ‘Nyonya Kebaya’. It was created in the 1920s, a period when women dressed to conceal their body. It was semi-transparent, lace-embroidered and has a tighter fit, which accentuated the female silhouette. It defied the conservative fashion which Malaysian women wore, inspiring them to embrace their sexuality. And the Kebaya still a popular fashion piece today.

Working with local Kebaya craftswomen, we redesigned the two floral motifs which are unique to the Nyonya Kebaya, the Peony and Chrysanthemum. We had the vulva hand-woven into the heart of each flower.

That’s how the Vulva Kebaya was created to inspire Malaysian women to embrace their sexuality once again.

As sanitary pad preference is shaped at a young age, Libresse’s core target are 18-25 year old, young women. These targets are inclined to challenging the status quo. They value their roots, but love giving culture and tradition a modern spin. The modern-retro vibe appeals to them.

Hence, we chose to reimagine the 'Nyonya Kebaya', an important piece of fashion that defined the Malaysian culture.

The Malaysian Peranakan community, was born out of the fusion of the Malay and Chinese culture. In the 1800s, the ladies wore the 'Baju Panjang'. A conservative fashion designed to conceal the female body.

Then came the 'Nyonya Kebaya' in the 1920s. It was a bold fashion statement of the times that inspired women to embrace their sexuality. By reimagining the design on this iconic Malaysian fashion, we believe it would spark conversations around a topic which has been shrouded in taboos.

Due to the pandemic, all on-ground events were halted. Instead, we got influencers to flaunt the fashion on the social space and share alarming facts of V-zone taboos, rallying Malaysians to break misconceptions of the V.

The idea was further amplified by replicating the designs on packs and sold them online and in stores nationwide.

It offended the conservatives in the community. A religious group claimed that the design was culturally unacceptable. But the larger nation, came to the brand’s defence, acknowledging that Libresse is the only brand bold enough to challenge social norms to normalise conversations around the V. Even politicians, the country’s top influencers and celebrities like Daphne Iking and Zee Avi stood by Libresse.

It became the country’s most talked about campaign, trending on Twitter in Malaysia for a week. Packs flew off shelves as both women AND men bought the packs in support of Libresse.

We gained MYR326.25 million (USD78.4 million) worth of earned media from local and regional media. And for the first time in history, the vulva appeared on primetime news uncensored! All from just a media spend of MYR200,000 (USD47,500).

It trended on Twitter and remained in the top 10 topics in Malaysia for a week with over 65,100 tweets, hitting #2 spot, just below Squid Games.

Online sales experienced 9X growth within the 3-month campaign period. (Shopee Sales Data)

Sales to the General Trade doubled. (Market Share Data by Kantar Worldpanel)

Brand Health Tracker by Ipsos revealed that:

BRAND AWARENESS INCREASED BY 8% during campaign period. PURCHASE INTENTION INCREASED TO 74% vs industry benchmark at 44%. TRIAL RATE INCREASED BY 8% during campaign period.

‘Brand that challenges norm’ increased by 19%

‘Brand that helps me feel confident about my V-Zone’ increased by 18%