Curtain Couture
Bench
TBWA\SMP
Overview
Bench, the Philippine’s biggest fashion brand, celebrates the importance of self-expression and creativity among the LGBTQ+ youth, in a film that sparked a nationwide cultural movement.
The Challenge
Philippine fashion brand Bench has been a long-time LGBTQ+ supporter, launching various campaigns to support LGBTQ+ causes such as Trans representation and issues of coming out.
For this campaign, they wanted to focus on the self-discovery that starts at a young age for those repressed by a conservative upbringing in a predominantly Catholic country.
The Solution
Bench wanted to spark a conversation on self-expression, by celebrating a hidden right of passage among LGBTQ+ children who play dress-up in secret.
With the help of TBWA\SMP, the brand launched “Curtain Couture”, a film that features real LGBTQ+ teens strutting down a makeshift runway to the song “Mariposa Bella” (Beautiful Butterfly), a century-old Spanish folk classic that was modernized to narrate the metamorphosis of today’s LGBTQ+ community.
The film started a nationwide cultural movement that united the community’s most influential people to TikTok users who created thousands of transformation videos using the song, inspiring lengthy discussions on the importance of self-expression.
The Results
The “Curtain Couture” campaign gained widespread praise online, earning 99.9% positive sentiment, 90% organic views (5M), a 78% engagement rate, 30 million reach and 66 million earned media, which contributed to an overwhelming 22,774% ROI for the brand.
Best of all, the film sparked an important cultural movement in the Philippines to empower the LGBTQ+ community and give visibility to the importance of acceptance and self expression.
