125 Years of Celebrating Women

My mother had a turquoise halter-neck Triumph bikini in the 1970s that my sister and I found one day in the 1990s, stashed away in bags of old clothes we were rummaging through in the attic. We spent a long time trying to convince mum that she should give it to one of us as she'd probably never wear it again, but she wouldn't let go of it. That's how good the brand made her feel... the memories of how great she felt wearing that bikini were so vivid that she insisted on keeping it as a memento. Seems like Triumph have been making women feel good about their bodies for a while now, as it's their 125th anniversary this year and they are celebrating in style.

The Triumph Inspiration Award (TIA) is a global lingerie design competition dedicated to challenging the creative talent of young Fashion & Contour Design students around the world and, in honour of Triumph's 125 year anniversary, the theme for this year is "125 Years of Celebrating Women". The final 20 designs from students at the London College of Fashion and De Montfort University in Leicester have now been unveiled for the online UK voting, and these designs will then be judged by a panel of celebrity and fashion experts during a catwalk showcase at the Triumph Inspiration Award UK Final in London on 31st March. The UK winner will go onto compete against 36 other international finalists at the global TIA final in Berlin in July. So, even if they don't win, they'll certainly get some good exposure for starting their career as a designer! There are some very beautiful pieces in the final selection and I wish all of the designers luck for the future. Perhaps one of them will go on to design another bikini that makes you feel so good you will keep it forever?

Image, via Triumph, of Tribal Heritage by Basma Masri for TIA.