Like how a spade is simply a spade, a statement t-shirt can simply be a that—a statement t-shirt. To wear one is an uncomplicated gesture, but there is also an allure in wearing a phrase you resonate with and letting it speak for you.

Enter Hiraya Pilipina’s founder, Cleo Loque. At the height of the global lockdown, the then-15-year-old was in her bedroom in Taytay selling what she now calls “cheesy slogans” printed on shirts, perfume, and abaca masks. Statements like“I turn pain into something beautiful, “Not Maria Clara,” and “Confidence Club” are read in bold, red cursive across an array of crew-neck shirts in her early days at the helm. 

Seven years later, the bedroom operation has transformed the once one-woman team into a homegrown skinwear brand. The shirts—they’ve given way to silicone bras, pasties, and other pieces made for the practical realities of getting dressed. And at the heart of it is Loque, thinking about the small ways her products can help women feel more comfortable and confident in their own skin.

“Kapag nagsusuot tayo ng damit, it starts with our innerwear. When we feel confident with our innerwear, it’s an extra boost before you even wear your outfit.” As Hiraya Pilipina celebrates its seventh anniversary, Allure Philippines looks back at seven moments that put Filipinas at the heart of its story—from the early days of running the business herself, Abante, babae, to the missteps, and ideas that helped shape Hiraya to the mainstay it is today.

2022: The Product That Finally Stuck

What sparked Hiraya’s redirection was simply a subpar parcel delivery. Just as Filipinas were beginning to embrace adhesive nipple tapes after celebrity Julia Baretto’s endorsement of them, Loque’s first attempt at it arrived dusty, ill-fitting, and hastily packaged. It was far from the quality essentials our intimate areas demanded. “It was dirty,” she says, but remembers rethinking the scrap heap and wanting to change that.

“There’s room for innovation here.” 

By that summer, Loque had landed on the product that would change Hiraya’s course: the nipple pasties. Part of the innovation was rethinking the colors, as Loque knew that beige—a shade that could make pasties look like they were floating on the skin—couldn’t be a catch-all for our golden skin. So Hiraya offered an inclusive range of six shades, giving Filipinas more options to find one that actually matched.

“We created a new mold for it, really investing in it even if it was more expensive. We wanted the pasties to be very seamless and opaque.” 

A few months later, the shirts, tote bags, and abaca masks were gone. Loque had finally found what she’d been looking for—and, judging by the response, so had thousands of Filipina women. “It really boomed from there—I realized that I already found my winning product.”

2022: One TikTok Live, 5,000 orders

Loque was certain there were more women looking for the intimate world she was building—she just had not found the way to reach them yet. Then came TikTok Live. She recalls Allure Philippines a story of going on TikTok Live on one December afternoon from her living room for maybe two, three hours, offering a 20% discount on their products. 

“I just decided to go live on my own, in my living room.”

“Walang maayos na background. I think it’s one of my first times na mag-live selling, tapos one-woman team pa lang din ako noon; yung kapitbahay ko lang yung nagpa-pack ng orders,” she recalls.

By the end of that random live, Hiraya had stumbled somewhere between 3,000 to 5,000 orders, a far cry from the usual hundreds Hiraya was getting. “I realized that I have so much opportunity in doing live selling. Even on [holidays], nagla-live ako. In my head, people were on their phones—no other brands were going live, so this was my opportunity.” 

2024: Nadine Lustre and The Bosom Cake

Boob solutions are, by definition, a private negotiation, hidden beneath layers of public presentation. But when Hiraya launched a campaign with Nadine Lustre donned in nothing but a white blazer and a matching Hiraya Bosom Cake set, that discretion immediately dissolved, and yes, the internet went a little feral over the two morenas.

More than the reach, though, the moment carried its own weight as one of the country’s biggest stars was openly wearing and talking about intimate wear and boob solutions from a homegrown brand. If there was still a little stigma around these pieces, moments like this helped chip away at it.

2025: What Hiraya Land Taught Cleo Loque About Scaling Too Fast

Polished as their launches may look to the outside eye, Loque wants to complicate that picture.“It feels so fitting for me to share this now.” she says, recalling the underwhelming response to their first offline event, Hiraya Land.

“It’s not that no one came. People still came, but not at the number that we expected,” she says.

She remembers crying to her best friend at 8 a.m. the next morning, but the setback brought her back to something she had learned from the beginning: start small, and take things one step at a time. “It’s so humbling, but at the same time, I love that I get to share that story now. We all make mistakes—and behind every successful launch is also a multitude of expensive mistakes.”

“I realized that it’s because I just went big, when I should have started small. If there’s one mantra that really worked out for me—it’s really starting small.” 

2025: Catriona Gray and the Bosom Cake 2.0

By October 2025, Hiraya’s intimate wear had become more than familiar enough to have another empowering face attached to it. The brand tapped Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray as its ambassador, with Gray looking ethereal posed with the Bosom Cake 2.0—an upgraded version of Hiraya’s most recognizable piece. 

There was something fitting about seeing a woman as confident as Gray speak so openly about a piece designed to do its job quietly underneath an outfit. The campaign put Catriona and the Bosom Cake 2.0 in plain sight, without making boob solutions feel like something that needed to be hidden or explained.

2025: Expanded Sizing to E and Double D for Bigger-Chested Filipinas

Size shouldn’t stand in the way of feeling confident, and Cleo Loque knows that mantra best. 

Being in touch with her community meant that the feedback will show up in the sizing. And show up, Loque did. The release of Bosom Cake 2.0 also initiated a shift in making more inclusive mold sizes for larger breasted people; by this time, Hiraya’s adhesive bras catered to breasts up to sized E, and up to double D for the Bosom Cake.

“Since ang dami talaga namin na customers who are bigger chested and also want to experience that comfort and confidence, that’s when we thought—you know what? We really need to create bigger modes for them to experience this.” 

2026: Tiny Holes, Big Differences

Hiraya’s latest innovation gave its bestselling Bosom Cake a breathable update, with the July launch of the Breathable Bosom Cake.

But the main attraction? Tiny holes added to the silicone mold. The tiny openings allow air to pass through, making the bra more comfortable in the heat and during workouts. 

“It was a proud moment for us, because it was another innovation,” Loque says. “It’s such a small additional feature, but it made a huge difference.” and for a product worn practically as second skin, especially in the Philippine heat, it was a small change with a practical payoff. 

Championing women does not always have to come about in the grandest of gestures. Sometimes, it can look as simple as making something they wear every day work a little better, and making them feel more comfortable in their own bodies in the process. It’s also Loque’s instinct to keep improving that has made her offerings a mainstay, even as Hiraya has grown far beyond where it began.

Frequently Asked Questions

Cleo Loque founded Hiraya Pilipina in 2020 at age 15, selling slogan shirts and abaca masks from her bedroom in Taytay during the pandemic. The brand later pivoted to intimate wear, becoming a homegrown Filipino skinwear label.

The Bosom Cake is Hiraya Pilipina’s silicone adhesive bra, later updated to the Bosom Cake 2.0 and fronted by Catriona Gray. Sizing goes up to double D, and a 2026 Breathable version adds ventilation holes.

A single 2022 TikTok Live session, run by Cleo Loque alone from her living room with a 20% discount, generated 3,000 to 5,000 orders in a few hours, far above the brand’s typical order volume.

Hiraya Pilipina’s adhesive bras now go up to size E, while the Bosom Cake is available up to double D. The brand expanded sizing after feedback from bigger-chested customers seeking the same comfort and confidence.

Hiraya Pilipina has partnered with Nadine Lustre, who fronted a 2024 Bosom Cake campaign, and Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray, who became the face of the Bosom Cake 2.0 in October 2025, helping normalize conversations around intimate wear.