Written by: Ina Joseph

Edited by: Deean Yeoh

The thought of defining things as broad as “imagination” or “innovation”, is an overwhelming yet lusterless one, probably because it feels like a totally fruitless effort. Even “creativity” - a term so hastily thrown around in everyday work and life - suddenly becomes an ethereal, ambiguous concept when trying to pin it down with one cohesive description. 

However, like most things, the thought of pinning down what it means to be “imaginative” or “innovative” becomes much less daunting when doing so against a solid foundation. Through a Forbes think-piece and Netflix docuseries, a mix of historical, cultural, and anecdotal conjectures can help us answer the questions: What exactly is innovation? Thinking critically and actionably about creative innovation becomes more and more relevant, especially as you create a game-changing brand of your own.

No matter what you read or which thought-leaders you speak to, one idea will almost always prevail: that creative innovation, while beneficial to have natural talent, requires hard work and consistent exercising of the skill set in question. Watching the wide array of artists and creatives in Netflix’s Abstract  use their creativity to create strategic, client-oriented products emphasizes the more laborious side of innovation. This active labor and constant improvement of natural ability grounds the idea of creative innovation. What often becomes a lofty, intangible concept suddenly becomes based in practices that anyone, from a student to an entrepreneur, could apply to their own work ethic and creative problem solving.

That’s what we realized as Amour Caché came to life over the past year. What was once just a collection of ideas – derived from life experiences, museum trips, and favorite fashion magazines – materialized. Years of strategy and ideation, plus trial and error, transformed our dream into reality. But by no means was it simple, and by no means did mere imagination bring Amour Caché to life. Our goal was to problem solve for lingerie-lovers through creative means – creative innovation. 

It’s one thing to let the mind formulate an imaginative concept. It’s another to give that imagination form. And that begs the question, is creating something entirely new even possible? Does the “newness” of a product or idea give it legs, or does intent and impact give an idea value? From a design perspective, Amour Caché combines existing objects and ideas with solutions to problems that we’ve faced as consumers. Our experiences, plus the experiences of the hundreds of bra-wearers we surveyed in building this brand, shaped both the question and the answer we wanted to address with our intimate apparel. 

We are not the first ever luxury lingerie brand, and we certainly won’t be the last. It'd be silly to suggest that our ideas and inspirations came from thin air. As some of the great thinkers around creativity have established, no innovation can exist without some level of influence from the innovators before us and the industry that evaluates your work. For us, it was lifetimes of wearing and loving lingerie that informed our approach to the intimate apparel space. We saw what “inclusion” in the industry has meant thus far, and we asked ourselves - “What else is missing? Who else can we cater to?” Questions like these, that stem off of the fabulous work of designers and bra-wearers before us, are what breathe life into something new. Something we believe to be innovative, creative, and important. 

Making individuals on the margins of the intimate apparel industry feel catered to and included is not just our mission. It’s the driving force behind the pieces - the solutions - we create. And that, to us as a budding brand, is what turning imagination into innovation is all about.

What does creative innovation, brand innovation, or creative problem solving mean to you? Leave us a comment below. 

Julie wears the Amour Caché Dani Balconette Pushup Bra with Dani Thong in a shimmery pink tulle. Words by: Ina Joseph @inabinaaaa | Modeled by: Julie Lai @juliexyy | Photographed by: Deean Yeoh @deedeedeean