And the Winner Is . . .

By Adam Welsch
Naomi & Nicole®

Last month, it was the Golden Globe®, People’s Choice, and Screen Actors Guild Awards®.  Later this month, it’ll be the Academy Awards®.  But tonight all eyes of the intimate apparel industry will be focused on Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City for the 2011 Femmy Gala.  Presented by the Underfashion Club, Inc., the Femmy Awards recognize the achievements of members of the intimate apparel industry.

Born in 1958 as the Corset & Brassiere Women’s Club, Inc., the Underfashion Club, Inc. adopted its current name in 1963.  As a non-profit organization, it helps participants in the intimate apparel industry trade information and ideas, discuss the industry’s needs and challenges, and ensure that intimate apparel continues to be seen as a key component of the fashion world.

Underfashion Club, Inc. members come from all links of the intimate apparel industry’s supply chain, including retailers, garment makers, textile producers, and fiber manufacturers, and work in management, sales, marketing, merchandising, design, and education positions.  They help create and distribute bras and shapewear, day wear, sleepwear, robes, and loungewear.   The Club’s stated mission includes its two principal goals of supporting the education of new talent and attracting that talent to careers in the industry.

So who are this year’s Femmy Award winners?  In no particular order:

• Cupid Intimates (Innovation Award Winner)

Founded in 1942, Cupid Intimates is an intimate apparel manufacturer headquartered in New York City that markets its products under the Cupid®, Naomi & Nicole®, Miraclesuit®, and TC® Fine Intimates brands.  Cupid Intimates sells its bras, panties, and shapewear via brick & mortar retailers in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, through its distributors in countries around the world, and via a wide variety of websites.

• Belk® (Retailer Honoree)

Located throughout sixteen states in the Southeastern US and based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Belk® is the nation’s largest privately-owned department store chain.  It features many of the nation’s top fashion designers and carries national brands of cosmetics, apparel, accessories, shoes, and home furnishings.

• Groupe Chantelle (Manufacturer  Honoree)

A worldwide leading producer of French feminine lingerie for more than 130 years, Groupe Chantelle offers the following four brands: Chantelle, Passionata, Darjeeling, and Orcanta.  The company sells its products in the United States, Europe, and parts of Asia.

• Clover Group International Limited (Global Supplier Honoree)

Headquartered in Hong Kong, with production facilities in mainland China and Cambodia, Clover Group International Limited has been a leading intimate apparel manufacturing partner for many of the world’s leading lingerie brands for more than five decades.

• Jos Berry (Lifetime Achievement Award Winner)

Jos Berry is the president of Concepts Paris, a consulting firm specializing in lingerie trends and design.  Based in Paris, Jos Berry is one of the industry’s top trend spotters.

So next time you watch your favorite stars walk the red carpet of an awards show and you notice how great they look in their beautiful dresses, remember that, but for the achievements of those like this year’s Femmy Award winners, your favorite actresses and singers wouldn’t look quite so good.

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