Being Senza-ble
Was at the launch of the La Senza store at Boni High Street recently and it was informative, at the least, to see how retail marketing nowadays has gone full gear in terms of niche-ing. Local La Senza franchisee is Ben Chan and the Suyen group, so given how much they’ve invested over the years in promoting Bench Body, one traditional school of thought would have them in competition with themselves for setting up another lingerie and underwear brand, and possibly committing “retail suicide.” And yet, there in all its glory is the Guadalupe billboard with curvaceous foreign models, loudly announcing that La Senza is in the market in a big way. Conventional wisdom be damned, the prevailing retail philosophy has more to do with recognizing niches in the market, and having representation in every niche. The niche can mean price points and range, or it can be influenced by demographics (gender, age, affinity, etc.). The main thing is to be there for every consumer of a particular product, when the potential numbers and volume of sales would seem to justify the presence.
Touted as Canada’s premier lingerie retailer, La Senza is owned by the same holding company that owns Victoria’s Secret. With over 300 stores in Canada and over 400 stores in 37 countries all over the world (you can find them in Europe, Scandinavia, Asia, the Middle East, Australia and South America), it’s no surprise to find La Senza finally making it to our shores. Besides the first Boni High Street store, stores at the Mall of Asia, TriNoma and Greenbelt 3 will eventually rise.
La Senza has become synonymous with high quality, affordability and elegance. Talking to the very congenial La Senza president Joel Teitelbaulm, I was informed how the price points of La Senza placed it squarely in the range to compete with names such as Marks & Spencer, while possessing a much more fashion-forward and sexy image. La Senza has in-store lines of bras, panties, daywear and sleepwear that are fresh, vibrant and yet, price-friendly. The LOVE La Senza collection is all about boudoir-style nightwear. These include babydolls, camidolls, bustiers and accessories; and I can see all the hot-blooded men raising their fantasy quotient as they read this! The Spirit collection is for an active lifestyle, while the Lola and Coco lines are meant more for the hip fashionistas. The Spring/Summer collections are really colorful, employing fashion colors and tropical prints — all done in the service of making something as basic as underwear that much more fun and whimsical. In fact, Joel is a walking encyclopedia and talkathon when it comes to the brand and the lingerie market. Asked to say a few words during the launch event, Suyen’s Bryan Lim very smartly said “Hello” and passed the mike to Joel, which guaranteed that shy Bryan didn’t have to say another word! Nice move, Bryan!
With celebrities like Angelica Panganiban, Rufa Mae Quinto, Be Bench winner Regine Angeles and Krista Ranillo lending their presence to the store opening, it was interesting to see them going over the merchandise and getting visibly excited over the variety of choices and designs. It’s this kind of diversity, coupled with the price points, that makes La Senza such a winner.
When things ain’t what they seem
A common theme running through these three novels is the notion of second chances in life, how a life of dissembling and reinvention can also provide the reader with entertaining and provocative material. The Goldstone novel is gripping medical historical fiction, while N.M. Kelby’s book is reminiscent of Carl Hiassen’s quirky Florida novels. The new novel of de Bernieres is all about seduction and storytelling, a charming winner.
The Anatomy of Deception by Lawrence Goldstone (available at Fully Booked): With this novel, Goldstone expertly mixes medical history with criminal drama. Willliam Osler is acknowledged to be the father of modern medicine, and there was a real-life manuscript he had sealed for 50 years. Set in 1889 Philadelphia, when Osler began his ascent in the profession, the novel is a wonderful recreation of the sights and smells of the era, and the surgical theaters and medical research halls of the time. The medical procedures and innovations are extensively described, and the drama makes its entry via the discovery of a corpse, victim of foul play, that turns out to be the pregnant daughter of one of Philadelphia’s pillars of society. Illegal abortions, the buying and dissecting of fresh corpses in the name of research, and the inevitable clash between professionals and higher society all take their turn in the spotlight. There’s also the moral dilemma of whether to finger a “killer” or leave him undetected and push for the advance of modern medicine. A wonderfully rendered novel that had me hooked until its conclusion.
Whale Season by N.M. Kelby (available at Powerbooks): Whale Harbor is a fictitious town in Florida that has no whales in it. Named as such by the fathers of the town in an attempt to make the town attractive to drive-by tourists, Kelby calls it the first tourist trap. Think Carl Hiassen and Tom Robbins, and you’ll have some idea of what Kelby’s novel is all about. A direct descendant of Hiassen and Robbins’ works, Whale Season is your shaggy-dog story, populated by big losers and lovable, down on their luck serial killers and strip club owners and madams. I kid you not, a weirder cast of characters will be hard to find. There’s Jesus (or Dr. Garcia), a Jesus Christ lookalike who really is the book’s serial killer. There are characters named Leon, Trot, Carlotta and Dagmar — all inhabitants of the town, and with stories of their own to relate and have us laughing in confusion, while also clucking with sympathy and compassion. It’s this particular side to Kelby’s writing that keeps the book entertaining, while she plumbs the depths of the Florida we don’t normally see.
The Partisan’s Daughter by Louis de Bernieres (available at Fully Booked): After giving us sprawling novels like Corelli’s Mandolin, Birds Without Wings, Senor Vivo and the Coca Lord and The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman, de Bernieres radically changes his approach to novel-writing and gives us The Partisan’s Daughter, a very personal, almost autobiographical, work of fiction. There are two main characters, Chris and Roza, and the teasing, beguiling question throughout this novel is “What is Truth, and does it matter anyway?” Chris is one of those typical Englishmen of the 1980s, mired in mediocrity and always doing the “safe thing.” Seeing Roza on a street corner and thinking she’s a prostitute, she bewitches him with stories of incest, rape and life in London as the daughter of an East European partisan/revolutionary. This is a subtle, yet potent, reminder of the power of memories (even if manufactured), and how story-telling can seduce.
