When inspiration strikes

I got two reactions when I revealed I was flying to Beijing to attend a lingerie competition for Triumph. First, most people unsurprisingly asked if I was staying for the Olympics (no, I didn’t.) Second, the men thought I was so lucky (no surprise there either), probably imagining a hall filled with leggy Pan-Asian models in brief lace scraps, glossy lips and not much else.

There was that, definitely. But whoever thinks that a competition held by one of the oldest and biggest lingerie brands in the world can only offer trussed-up hair and a leg show is seriously daft and delusional.

A lingerie show, in itself, is a big deal, especially if you decide to hold it in a locale that’s just a week away from hosting the world’s biggest and most important sporting event.  But Triumph International took the two-piece clamor further not just by showcasing creativity but also by encouraging it. (The choice to have the event in Beijing was not random. Triumph was really intent on disseminating an “international” feel of competition.)   The very first Triumph Inspiration Awards (TIA) involved 31 budding designers from varying points of the globe, all of whom were tasked to create a conceptual showpiece set inspired by the theme of “female fascination.” The Philippines sent Ralph Ng from the College of St. Benilde’s fashion design school, who had earlier won the local counterpart of the TIA. Ng and his creation, an ethereal, all-white piece that incorporated Swarovski crystals and capiz shells, was up against creations by student-designers from renowned fashion schools in Japan, the UK, Australia, Italy and more.

Just to show that lingerie is no frivolous matter, Triumph put together an illustrious panel of judges composed of some of the biggest names in fashion industry: Dutch duo Viktor & Rolf, Danish supermodel and Nylon magazine founder Helena Christensen (still an uber-babe even approaching her 40s), Chinese supermodel and up-and-coming actress Lu Yan, German photographer Ellen von Unwerth (known for her female erotica images) and Parisian fashion house Colette’s chief purchaser and creative director Sarah from Colette joined Triumph’s head of global marketing and sales Jan Rosenberg in choosing a two-piece entry that was unique, innovative and commercially viable. (The winning piece would have the opportunity to be commercially produced in a limited edition and sold worldwide in Triumph’s retail centers.)

The outcome was quite dazzling, to say the least. From fantastical to technology-driven, quirky to structured, every single piece had a lot to say about a two-piece necessity that is usually kept, literally, under wraps. The winning piece, actually, by Midori Matsuo of Tokyo’s Bunka Fashion College, played up the idea of lingerie being a fashion statement revealed to only the most “important” people in a person’s life. Matsuo’s puffy, cartoonish piece designed the bra to look like a woman’s eyes when crying — downcast and glistening with tears — and the panty was shaped into full, red lips with the sides in a downturn. “When women feel like crying, they tend to hide it. What this kind of delicate feeling and lingerie have in common is that both are only revealed to the most important person in a woman’s life. I designed my lingerie to look like the face of a crying woman to illustrate this commonality,” she explains. This exceptional piece won Matsuo, aside from the chance to be a limited edition designer for Triumph, 15,000 euros.

Second place went to Germany’s Teresa Bachler, who came up with  a skimpy black silk and lace creation that featured a collar attached to the panty by two diaphanous lace panels. Stine Fagervik-Rosen from Norway’s ESMOD International, was awarded third place for her fun and colorful two-piece that included a tasseled detail-heavy top and a girdle-style bottom.

Though the Philippines didn’t place, Ralph Ng’s creation was still lauded for its intricate beading and unusual use of materials. “They were asking what the capiz shell was. They thought it was some kind of coconut,” says Ng.

More than creating a buzz for their brand and getting a chance to put a limited-edition, designer-approved creation onto their shelves, Triumph’s TIA just goes to show how a dependable, 120-year brand is moving with, and even ahead, of the times. Triumph has had a standing relationship with women since 1886 when German businessmen Michael Braun and Johann Gottfried Spiesshofer began making corsets for women.  This continued on into the ‘50s with pointy Lycra bras, with  triangle bras and bikini briefs in the ‘80s and the inevitable push-up in the ‘90s. Today, Triumph’s selection, including those of the other brands under its umbrella — sloggi for teens, Valisere for the high-end market and HOM for men — is a thousand times more extensive than the first corsets made in that tiny southern Germany corset factory but the principle of providing excellent, innovative products to a loyal customer base still remains. The principle of providing lingerie also remains. If you take it from the name, there is always a sense of pleasure, satisfaction and enjoyment received from lingerie — even if it the bra is in the shape of downcast eyes.

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Triumph, in the Philippines, is sold in major department stores nationwide.

E-mail comments to ana_kalaw@pldtdsl.net.