Triumph History - Then & Now
Success Story
The Early Years
Worldwide Expansion
Visions of the Future
A Hundred Years of Temptation - Triumph International
The Early Years
Worldwide Expansion
Visions of the Future
In our hundred years and more of seduction, we have grown from modest beginnings as a classic corsetry manufacturer in Germany's Swabia region to a major multinational corporation - and the company is still in private ownership today.
When Triumph's founders launched their corsetry business from a barn in Heubach (Württemberg, Germany) in 1886, they had startup funds of 2000 gold marks and employed 6 staff. Today, the company they started boasts annual sales of over 1.6 billion US dollars, and employs over 30,000 staff all over the world.
But one thing hasn't changed since the early days. Then as now, the philosophy of the company focuses on its people. We condemn and abhor any kind of discrimination on the grounds of sex, nationality, race or religion, and we are committed to observing international human rights statutes both within our own production operations and in all suppliers to Triumph International.
1886:
When Triumph's founders launched their corsetry business from a barn in Heubach (Württemberg) in 1886, they had startup funds of 2000 gold marks and employed 6 staff. As a comparison, the company today has annual sales exceeding 1.6 billion US dollars and employs over 30,000 staff all over the world. At the same time as Paris couturier Charles Frederic Worth was the first man to "enhance" the female form with padding, the two founders of Triumph were setting up their operations - in a barn!
1894:
Their sharp business acumen brought them an important breakthrough - an order for corsetry from strait-laced England.
1896:
The word "brassière" was coined in America by Charles de Bevoise. Was it pure chance, or - as we might believe today - a sign of destiny?
1900:
In the first years of the century, constricting whalebone undergarments underwent a certain degree of relaxation; corsets moved downwards, so to speak, to become girdles. Women, and European women in particular, were positively electrified by the influence of new fashions such as the tango, and began to dress and deport themselves in ways that brought out their personalities. As TRIUMPH flourished, new generations brought youthful energy and élan into the business.
1902:
The name "Triumph" was registered as a trademark in 1902.
1930:
In the 1930s, TRIUMPH advanced to the status of Europe's largest corsetry manufacturer - an excellent reason to celebrate the company's 50th birthday in 1936.
1933:
After almost 50 years of near-uninterrupted growth, checked only by the First World War, 1933 saw the foundations laid for the company's later international expansion when the company opened its first international branch in Zurzach, Switzerland. Today, the same premises house the corporate financial headquarters and other central corporate departments.
1942:
In 1942, Howard Hughes, the legendary American magnate and film producer, launched a new way of thinking that immediately appealed to all women. The aircraft engineer (also noted for designing the world's largest flying boat) was the producer of the film Outlaw, starring the celebrated - and thoroughly curvaceous - Hollywood actress Jane Russell. Hughes developed a bra for her that actually adapted the principles of aircraft design to the idiosyncrasies of the female form. The result was a successful combination of fashion and fit, echoing the goal which our designers have always set themselves and which will continue to be their guiding principle in the future.
1946:
1946 was the year when the revolutionary, daringly fascinating world of the bikini was unveiled by Louis Réard.
1953:
More dynamic than ever, in 1953 TRIUMPH had regained its position as Europe's leading corsetry manufacturer, and was renamed "Triumph International" to reflect the company's increasingly international status. From now on, nothing could halt Triumph's programme of expansion. Between 1954 and 1959, the year when Du Pont's miracle elastane fibre Lycra® was launched as a revolution in elasticity and comfort, Triumph opened branches in Belgium, Great Britain, Sweden, Italy, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Austria and the Netherlands.
1959:
In 1959, Triumph presented the largest lingerie fashion show to date in the world. The Berlin show proved a magnet for leading fashion journalists from all over the world and made global headlines.
1960:
In 1960, Triumph opened offices in Hong Kong and signalled its expansion into the Asian market. This groundbreaking decision was accompanied by a further innovation that has remained a keystone of the company ever since: The corporate structure was decentralized, a business strategy that enabled customers in each country to be served by locally based designers and business partners with particularly strong commitments to regional fashion trends and cultural conditions. In the early 1960s, Triumph moved into Spain, Greece, France and Portugal, and expansion in the Middle and Far East continued from 1964 into Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and some Arab countries.
As Triumph's international business presence developed, the company's significance for the world of fashion increased at the same pace. TRIUMPH Japan grew so powerfully that it was soon among the top three underwear producers. In keeping with the corporate philosophy of adapting to local conditions, TRIUMPH was among the first fashion companies to produce designs specifically for Asian sizing.
1969:
In 1969, the Triumph 70 Fashion Show again broke new ground as the world's largest international fashion show for lingerie and underwear. 23 models and dancers travelled a total of 72,000 kilometers and appeared before over 30,000 spectators in many European and Asian countries.
1970:
By now, the company's core product group of corsetry had been complemented by swimwear and day- and nightwear. New technological developments such as moulding (the thermoplastic shaping of polyester or other synthetics by the application of heat and pressure) rendered conventional seams superfluous. From the second half of the 1970s, traditional needle-and-thread sewing methods were joined by high-frequency welding processes.
1971:
The state-of-the-art production plants in Vienna/ Wiener Neustadt, Heubach and Hong Kong reinforced the reputation of TRIUMPH as a high-tech fashion company.
1972:
The company entered the Brazilian markets, took over House of Jenyns in Australia and launched licensing production in South Africa. Production, sales and export subsidiaries were founded in the Philippines und Thailand, together with licensed sales operations in Indonesia and a subsidiary in Chile; production works in China followed in 1980.
1981:
Sales now topped 400 million US $, and Scene 81, a new Triumph fashion spectacular staged throughout Asia and Australia, celebrated further sensational success.
1986:
Licensing contracts in Colombia (1982) and Argentina (1983) were signed and the company celebrated its 100th anniversary by taking over a prestigious international men's underwear manufacturer. After a century of hard but richly rewarded efforts, we face the future with confidence and are already looking forward to our 150th anniversary celebrations in the new millennium!
Welcome to our second century!
An age in which Jean-Paul Gaultier - as the London Observer puts it - "has transformed the female form into lethal twin torpedos".
Yet also an age in which studies (with regional variations) report that one in four women is wearing an ill-fitting bra.
An age in which younger generations in countries as different as Japan and India are increasingly influenced by Western media
In fact, an age in which the world is in a perpetual state of rapid change.
What direction should TRIUMPH now seek to adopt, since international fashion is an increasingly accessible goal for more and more women all over the world? When information is instantly disseminated around the globe by satellite TV and Internet? When our growing concern for the environment and quality of life requires that we use only the best fabrics and the most ecologically sound production processes? In the last fifteen years we have continued our programme of growth, adding countries including Uruguay, Canada, New Zealand, Korea, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, and in Eastern Europe, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Russia. We have established production plants with ultra-modern technology in Bangkok and Morocco, and - heralding the opening of the Chinese market - opened branches in Shanghai and Peking. Yet we are still proud of our roots, continuing to operate our very first production plant in Heubach and our Central Marketing Department in Munich, next door to Bavaria’s unique landscape of lakes and mountains. We are already looking into the future far beyond the year 2001, to our next fifty years. As a company committed to progress, we will naturally continue our programme of expansion. But we believe the most fascinating areas of progress will develop in the fields of fashion, textiles and health consciousness.
2002:
Remember when underwear was first worn as outerwear? The two categories are merging and becoming almost indistinguishable, in an age when our society is increasingly future-oriented and the boundaries between lingerie, leisurewear and sportswear are correspondingly flexible.
2003:
Cultural and fashion influences from the Asian countries are exploding at the same rate as their interest in Western fashion trends combines with their own traditions, values and styles. Our designers have long begun to blend Western and Chinese influences to create fascinating effects.
2004:
As simpler, more environmentally friendly packaging is designed and the search for newer and smarter fabrics continues, new fabrics are developed (elastane, new microfibres, Lyocell/Tencel). Products are becoming lighter, yet more durable and more elastic. And who knows - maybe in 2020, your bra will be made entirely of recyclable plant fibres?
2005:
New sales opportunities are opening up; in many European countries, women think nothing of buying briefs in the supermarket along with their weekly shopping. Special processes can treat lingerie items with the scent of roses, violets or other fragrances - or even chocolate!
2006:
The fashion market is increasingly a global market, presenting our designers with a mass of new influences and sources of inspiration. It's this enormous diversity and potential that makes us look forward to the next decades - which may even be the most exciting and innovative in our company's entire history of innovation.
And we'll be happy to take you along on our journey through progress - with our company motto:
Fashion and so much more!
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