Berlei is a brand of women's lingerie and in particular bras and girdles.
History
The company began in Sydney in 1910. The Berlei brand originated in 1917. Berlei undergarments are now sold in Australia by Hanesbrands and in the United Kingdom by Courtaulds Textiles.
Berlei conducted a research project to quantify Australian 'figure types'.thumb|250px
thumb|Berlei Cartoon by Tom Glover
The name came from that of the firm's founder, Frederick Richard Burley, who felt that his name as normally spelt was not contextually appropriate to his products.
Berlei Limited was one of the first Australian companies to expand outside Australia.
In 1923, he founded the Australia Made Preference League and served as the first president of the League. The League created the Great White Train as a promotional tool for early Australian industries.
He travelled widely to learn business and trade information, to make business partnerships, and to get materials for his factories.
The movie Undercover was made about the early years of the Berlei company and the life of Frederick R Burley.
History of Berlei Limited and associated companies
Berlei Limited was started in 1910, as a company called Unique Corsets in Sydney, after Fred Burley discovered that the corset business was profitable and that the wholesale segment of the business could be prosecuted on an import replacement basis. Burley made his first overseas business trip to the US in 1913, to research methods and investigate the use of machinery of the time. The 'frenchified' brand name of Berlei was conceptualized soon after and was registered in Australia in 1917. (While this might reasonably be accordingly pronounced after the French style as 'bur-LAY', it is commonly still pronounced as if written 'burley'.) United Corsets became Berlei Limited in 1920.
thumb|250px|[[Berlei Building|Berlei House in Regent Street, Sydney]]
The original factory was in Wilmot Street, Sydney with additional space being used in Liverpool Street.
In January 1922, the factory was moved to Berlei House in Regent Street.
Berlei (NZ) Limited
Berlei (New Zealand) Limited was started in 1923, with a staff of fifty growing to 665 employees in 1961.
Berlei (UK) was purchased from Berlei Hestia of Australia in 1982.
Berlei (UK) called in a receiver in November 1985,