Hiraya Pilipina Offers Innerwear for All the Shades of the Pinay
Finding the right shades and sizes for nipple pasties and silicone bras is now more accessible for Filipinas.
Ever put on a pair of nipple pasties under your top, thinking it would disappear into your skin, but the exact opposite comes to pass? The effect of your sheer top strays from discreet into slightly risqué, what with the two flashing lights stealing the show.
Not what you were going for? We get it. So did Cleo Loque.
In 2021, a then-17-year-old Loque purchased a pair of 30-peso nipple pasties online, and immediately disliked, first, how dusty they seemed, and, second, how they would bulge out in the wrong places. Loque, then already an entrepreneur with her brand Hiraya Pilipina, thought to herself, “I can innovate this.”
Four years later, Hiraya Pilipina now offers both adhesive and non-adhesive nipple pasties in an inclusive range for the Filipina with six shades and four sizes (from six-and-a-half to 13 centimeters), plus silicone bras in three iterations (Bosom Cake, their bestseller; Plexi-Wings, a seamless V-shape; and Soft Cloud, a cloth adhesive). Early on, Loque zeroed in on the problem of the lack of sizes for bigger-chested Filipinas, and sought to remedy it. “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,” she says.
Their products are available online, through their website, and on shopping platforms Lazada, Shopee, and TikTok. A swipe through the apps reveals comments like “It’s like magic! Hiraya Pilipina did it again!” and “Isa na ako sa mga suki ng Hiraya Pilipina! Sobrang worth it ang pera sa mga products niyo.” (“Your products are so worth it.”)
Photo: Karlo Cadang
Loque didn’t expect the response to their pasties, but she can understand it. “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,” Loque shares.
It’s a story in itself that Loque was only 15 when she started Hiraya Pilipina in 2019 as a passion project to promote female- and self-empowerment. She loaned PHP 20,000 from her parents and started selling T-shirts with what she calls, “cheesy slogans, like ‘I turn pain into something beautiful,’ and ‘I will prove myself right.’” Even as a child, she was always entrepreneurial—selling ice candy and setting up sari-sari stores during the summer. Now, at 21, she manages a team of 30 as she finishes her bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in Enderun Colleges, dealing with the daily nitty gritty of running a business, consulting with parents and professors, and turning to books and podcasts for help.
For Loque, Hiraya Pilipina is all about empowerment and community—yes, in terms of creating inclusive products for women and marketing, but also in terms of the culture of the company that is mostly female. “I try to develop a culture wherein we pull each other up instead of down, and in our community with our customers as well,” Loque shares, emphasizing how working from the inside out gives the brand strength. Sounds like what a solid pair of pasties is meant to do, too.
