Outing innerwear in India...

The market for high-end lingerie is notoriously tough. But Triumph is here to stay, regional MD Thorsten Allenstein tells Neha Bhatt

How have you survived the economic crisis while other international brands have been forced to move out of the country?
Though our sales have not doubled as expected after we opened our factory in Chennai last year, we have still managed a 66 per cent growth in India and enjoy a 34 per cent share in the organised lingerie market. In the current economic situation, however, it’s difficult to find retail space. Many of the stores we had planned to open in spaces and malls under development will not be seeing the light of day. However, we recently opened our second stand-alone store in Delhi, at Khan Market, which is one of our nine exclusive stores in the country now. Ten flagship stores are in the pipeline.

How difficult was it to break into the Indian lingerie market?
It is probably one of the most difficult markets for lingerie. India is actually like six-seven countries rolled in one, with different preferences and requirements in each region. The market here is exciting and challenging. While retail expansion has helped us grow in sales, Triumph fashion shows, in association with Bollywood, have helped us gain brand recognition. For example, our limited edition collection with Swarovski worked well. The Triumph Inspiration Award to encourage young designers — an event we plan to make annual — has strengthened our position in the fashion fraternity. We have also rolled out an India Fit Movement, for which we have put together a team to educate people across institutions about the importance of wearing the right bra size. But September is the month for our big initiative — the Women’s Heaven concept.

We are conservative about innerwear and displaying it. Has that mindset somewhat changed of late?
There has been a little improvement there. Malls are allocating more space for different styles in a variety of brands, especially retail giants like Shopper’s Stop and Lifestyle. In smaller shops, the concept of showcasing a great variety of lingerie is still new. In fact, many smaller retailers tell me they are keen to stock Triumph innerwear in their stores, but when I ask them for adequate space to showcase our products, they wouldn’t give me any. It’s not going to work if you are going to clutter the styles together. It spoils the shopping experience.

Are Indians willing to spend on high-end innerwear?
Our customers are usually young professionals who easily pay around Rs1,100 per piece. It won’t be long before a Rs 5,000 price tag is acceptable.