That message was the dream behind the establishment of Australia's first glamorous im boutiques in 1984. "I wanted Australian women and men to be able to choose their lingerie from the best European designer labels", says the owner and founder, Irene Michael. "Such luxury labels were simply not available in this country."

Earlier in her career, a fashion designer for the American swimwear label Jantzen, Michael adopted a keen eye for well fitting body fashions and has attributed this to her personally selected stable of designer brands.

im boutiques are now firmly established along the east coast of Australia and in Wellington New Zealand. They are the only chain of their kind and have made an impact on Australia and New Zealand's underworld. im has an impressive list of clientele from all arenas willing to indulge in joining Australia's "Best Undressed" list. Each boutique offers the discerning clientele an exciting array of French and Italian labels which include La Perla, Nina Ricci, Lise Charmel, Aubade, Ravage, Lou, Christies, Naory, Argentovivo and Millesia to name a few.

Michael has taken the nation (well, certainly a large percentage of it anyway!) out of "cotton tails" and fitted them beautifully into indulgent, luxurious underwear.

No longer is lingerie simply an undergarment, it's as much a fashion statement as the clothes worn on top. Once you spoil yourself with the best - there's no going back to budget undercovers.

In 2002, Irene Michael decided to align all her boutiques in raising funds in all marketing initiatives for two worthy charities; The National Breast Cancer Foundation and The Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.