Ready for an all-new luxury bedroom experience? Hapsari has everything you’ve ever dreamed of – and more.
This week, I sat down with Angela Sedran, one half of the mother-daughter team who run the to-die-for new intimate boutique Hapsari. Hapsari’s been creating quite a buzz – for its luxe focus, its female-friendly dynamic and its stunning range of products. Angela gave me – and you – the scoop.
RESCU: So where did the concept of Hapsari come from?
Angela Sedran (pictured with her mum): The concept of Hapsari was born out of an experience I had 10 years ago, whilst studying for my MBA. It led me to write a business plan for a female-focussed luxury sensuality concept store. Research showed that female sensuality and sexual health had become hot topics amongst women globally, and that women were now more and more actively seeking advice and know how on the subject. It’s been fuelled by the Sex and the City franchise, which has done wonders in promoting the sense of female empowerment when it comes to our intimate lives. It was Sex and the City that made the Rabbit the best selling adult toy of all time.
Research also showed that women were generally not comfortable purchasing from the existing adult shops, which catered to men. There was definitely a major gap in the market as everything available out there for women was designed by men.
Over the last eight years, beautiful, quality, female-friendly offerings have entered the market in more upmarket retail outlets and department stores. However, there still seemed to be few dedicated outlets, if any, especially in Australia, which were totally geared towards catering for women.
I wanted to follow my heart and pursue a business that both my mother and I strongly believe in, not only because it has a sound basis to it, but also because it is a business that in some small way can help improve women’s lives. We get so lost in being daughters, wives, employees, carers and mothers, that we often forget that we have a beautiful woman inside us that deserves and needs to be cherished and celebrated. Our vision was to create a business that could help women rediscover the divine feminine that lies within us all.
RESCU: Does Hapsari represent a new way of shopping?
Angela Sedran: What is different about Hapsari is our empowering philosophy that women deserve more out of life and have every right to embrace their femininity and sensuality. To this end, we have brought a range of beautiful products together from around the globe that we believe will make women feel more sexy and desirable, boost their self-esteem and confidence, provide the means to create a more sensual environment, and zing up their sex lives.
We have created an elegant online retail concept, like no other, that appeals to women of every age and is ideal for those women who still find it embarrassing to go into a shop, those who live in remote areas or those who simply like the convenience of shopping online.
RESCU: What does the modern woman want from her intimate products?
Angela Sedran: The modern woman wants intimate products that are easy to use, are functional and reliable, preferably rechargeable, are durable, beautifully designed and will not be out of place in her designer handbag right alongside her iPhone. In the past, most sex toys were tacky phallic-looking objects bought by men for women from seedy sex shops. Today women are buying for themselves. They believe that orgasms are their right and won’t hesitate to spend money on something that is safe, effective and fits into their lifestyle.
Suzi Godson, Weekend’s sex columnist, put it this way: “For a woman who can afford it, a choice between a pink plastic ‘adult novelty’ that has been made from a cocktail of toxins in a Chinese factory and a hand-tooled 24-carat gold limited-edition Jimmyjane is a no-brainer.”
The most expensive toy we found is one made of 18ct gold, set with 90 diamonds, costing £35,000.
RESCU: Wow. What’s your advice for women who have never used a sex toy before?
Angela Sedran: Many women still seem to think that you have to be “into” toys to be using them. It’s like saying that you’re not into cars so you won’t drive one. You don’t have to be a big fan of ovens to bake a great cake. A toy simply is an object that is designed to reliably accelerate arousal and help induce, or intensify, orgasm, and can be a wonderful addition to any woman’s life, helping her to achieve and maintain a more enriched life, whether she is on her own or with a partner, and regardless of her age.
Going by the articles and books written by sex therapists from across the world and, indeed, the feedback we get from our own customers, there is a long list of women expressing their joy and gratitude after having been introduced to a vibrator for the first time in their lives. Some have even said that it has helped save their relationship.
RESCU: Are there any toys a first timer would love?
Angela Sedran: This would depend entirely on what she hopes to achieve. The biggest sexual organ we have is our brain, and to have a satisfying sexual experience it is important for a woman to get into the right frame of mind. To do this, she can adorn herself with any of the wide range of beautiful products that will: make her feel more seductive and self-confident; provide a more seductive environment; heighten her senses; allow her to experience or give a beautiful massage; accelerate her arousal or help her experience a mind blowing orgasm for the first time.
When it comes to vibrators, our recommendation for a first timer buyer is to choose by function rather than form and that size really doesn’t matter. That being said, those who would like to start off with something less obvious should give Paris, the seductive bath-time companion, a try; or Ammunition for Love, the tiny but mighty bullet.
RESCU: What’s your recommendation for women who’ve seen and felt it all – a product that would startle even the most jaded customer?
Angela Sedran: We believe that even the most experienced woman is still able to have the opportunity to see and feel something new – all she has to do is try some new “ingredients” and vary the way she combines and uses them. We recommend that she try the Form 2, or the re-engineered Iconic Rabbit, both by Jimmyjane (pictured), combined with one of our high quality lubricants and excitement gels, for a mind blowing experience.
RESCU: So what makes Hapsari truly stand out in its field?
Angela Sedran: There are many companies out there who claim to have been created for women by women, yet none of them have been able to move away from the tacky adult industry norm or cater to women’s needs. Our body care products are set apart with exquisite packaging and are made from the highest quality ingredients and materials. All our love toys are made from body-safe materials, and are environmentally friendly and phthalate-free.
We only deal with suppliers who meet our stringent standards and code of practice, and our distributors are trained to present the products and the subject matter in a sophisticated and respectful manner.
Our mission is to increase the awareness and experience of love in the world. Our business offers love products that will enhance the ability of women and couples to enjoy the passionate side of life and see their relationships with new and loving eyes.
We share the wealth of love with initiatives to help and support women’s organisations around the world, such as the Somaly Mam Foundation. We believe that by helping women to improve their lives and helping them to create and sustain strong families, we make the world a more loving place.
RESCU: Why do you believe your Luxury Girls’ Nights are so popular?
Angela Sedran: Our Luxury Girls’ Nights In provide women with the opportunity to bond with their friends and other women in an environment that is sophisticated and informative, but most of all, lots of fun! Again and again, we find women telling us that they were reluctant to come but ended up being so glad that they did because, not only did they enjoy themselves, they also learned a lot. People are vulnerable when buying a toy – our parties give them the sanctuary to do it.
RESCU: What are the biggest trends in intimate shopping?
Angela Sedran: More and more mainline luxury stores across the world now stock beautiful intimate products, and we will see many more take them on in the future as more people embrace the fact that sensuality products can be beautiful. We are proud to be able to say that we stock the same luxury intimate products as high end stores such as Selfridges, Harrods, Liberty, Galleries Lafayette, Etam, Coin, Henri Bendel, Sonia Rykiel and Fred Segal.
In addition, many new toys are winning international design and engineering awards. Nomi Tang’s Better Than Chocolate, for example, is a Red Dot Award Winner, and the design of the Form 2 by Jimmyjane is so compelling that it has even made the Wall Street Journal. Toys and intimate products are not only becoming more beautifully designed, they are also becoming more body-safe and reducing their impact on our planet by becoming more environmentally friendly.
The days of rubbery vibrators brought out at a hen’s night with lots of sniggering in the background are definitely over. With the ice melting around sexuality, vibrators now come with a designer pedigree and are just as likely to be given as gifts between girlfriends, couples and even as wedding presents. Many women buy sex toys to use by themselves, but we have noticed an increasing trend among our customers for couples to buy gifts for each other to add some zest to their sex lives. The We-Vibe II, the world’s first couples vibe, described by Glamour magazine as “a sure fire way to have an orgasm with your man”, has proved to be very popular…
Lady Friday xx
Taking pillow talk out of the bedroom, every Friday…
