Consumers Prefer to Get Intimate with Cotton Innerwear

Consumers Prefer to Get Intimate with Cotton Innerwear

From August 1, 2013 online edition of WWD, excerpts from my recent interview on trends in Intimate Apparel.
The article focuses on materials and fabrications, namely the importance of cotton and the challenge to make it glamourous and attractive beyond its undisputable natural comfort.

Today's intimates are so varied in color, style, sexiness and fun they bear almost no resemblance to underthings of even the recent past. But one thing has not changed: how much consumers appreciate the comfort of cotton in their underthings, which presents a growth opportunity for makers who incorporate it into their collections.

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Triumph International is entering the U.S. intimates market later this month without its men's collections, instead focusing on women's to start. The Munich-based innerwear company, which generates $2.1 billion internationally, will launch here with two stores in New York.

Triumph's cotton offering includes its Body Make Up Cotton-Feel collection, which was introduced with the fall/winter '13 collections.

"Our consumers like that it is a natural fiber against the skin," says Triumph's Mario Pace, vice president of brand and marketing. The cotton-rich material is blended with stretch, "which over time maintains the durability and fit. The cotton has a very compact texture with a shine to it, which adds to the glamour of it. In other words, we made cotton glamorous."


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Meanwhile, Pace says Triumph's Body Make Up bra is the perfect for every day. It was customer preference that persuaded the company to add more natural fibers and fabrications.

"The logical next step was to incorporate cotton into the offering of everyday ranges," Pace says. "The Cotton-Feel collection has the same benefits and features of the best-selling Body Make Up line. It takes natural fibers and the latest technology in terms of material and workmanship to create everyday garments with a luxury feel."

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