page_title: Triumph International
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Triumph International / History
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Firmengebäude der Firma Spiesshofer &amp; Braun in Heubach, von der Ruine Rosenstein aus gesehen.
context_page_description: Triumph International is a Swiss underwear manufacturer founded in 1886 in Heubach, Germany. The company's headquarters has been located in Bad Zurzach, Switzerland, since 1977, and it has branches in 45 countries. In addition to the Triumph brand, the company produces and distributes the products under the brands sloggi and AMO’s Style by Triumph.
  Triumph International has been an industry leader, particularly in women's and sleepwear, since the 1960s. Shares of the German subsidiary have been traded on the stock exchange until 2011.
context_section_description: In 1886, Johann Gottfried Spiesshofer and Michael Braun founded a factory for the production of corsets in Heubach (Baden-Wurttemberg). They first employed six people on the same number of sewing machines. That number rose to 150 people in 1890, and in 1894 their first exports were sent abroad, to England. It was only in 1902 that Spieshofer and Braun registered the Triumph brand, which was reminiscent of the Parisian Arc de Triomphe, to which International was later added. After the economic boom in the 1920s, demand for the classic corset declined, which is why the company began parallel production of brassieres. In the 1930s, Triumph International also began producing corselets.
  In 1933, the first foreign branch was set up in Bad Zurzach (Switzerland). With the division of Germany in 1949, the Triumph International brand continued in the German Democratic Republic, but business activities there came to a virtual standstill. However, the internationalization of the company continued in the following period and beginning in the 1950s, offices were opened in Belgium, Great Britain, Sweden, Norway and Austria. Triumph International further expanded in 1960 by establishing its Asia-Pacific region headquarters in Hong Kong, and opening its first Japanese branch in 1963. At the time, observers already described it as a "cunning web" of companies, some of which were registered in the tax havens of Liechtenstein and Bermuda. In the late 1960s, Triumph International's market share for corsetry in Germany was about 50 percent.
  At that time, the group had generated sales of 620 million Deutsche Mark and employed 22,600 employees. In the mid-1960s Triumph International introduced broad scale electronic data processing. Due to the economic crisis, the company encountered significant difficulties for the first time at the beginning of the 1970s, meaning the company even had to introduce short-term work. The crisis also affected the company’s tights sales, which they had begun in 1969 and discontinued only three years later. At the same time, Triumph International began for the first time to produce products from lighter fabrics with fibers such as nylon or lycra.
  At the end of the 1970s, the new sloggi brand was introduced, under which underwear and other products with high cotton content were marketed. The company moved its headquarters from Germany to Switzerland in 1977, and its holding has since been headquartered in Bad Zurzach. By 1986, sales increased to 996 million Swiss francs and the number of employees fell slightly to 19,000 employees. At the same time, sales began in the People's Republic of China and beginning in 1988, individual Triumph products were manufactured under license in East Germany for the local market. This included swimwear in addition to underwear.
  With the takeover of two French name brands, HOM and Valisère, Triumph International ventured into the men's underwear and high-quality lingerie market. At the same time, the company announced in 1995 that in the future it would focus more on its Triumph umbrella brand, under which a number of brands would be classified. To that end, an advertising campaign was launched featuring Naomi Campbell and Helena Christensen. In the 1990s, Triumph International launched another phase of international expansion, and since 1998 it has been present on the subcontinent of India. In 2001, its newest production facility opened in Dunaújváros (Hungary), which has been sold in the interim.  After the turn of the millennium, Triumph was one of the biggest textile manufacturers in terms of sales in the domestic market.
  From 2008 to 2012, the company hosted the Triumph Inspiration Awards, where lingerie designers were able to compete according to an annually changing theme. The entries were evaluated both by a jury and according to the votes by visitors to the competition website. In 2009, the competition attracted broader attention, particularly as that event was held in London. Initially a local competition was held in the participating countries prior to the international fin
caption: corporate building in Heubach (2011)
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