Mr. Yuppie, 32, wears a suit to the office, works out at the gym and, despite the connotation the yuppie label carries or the derision his non-yuppie friends dish out to him, he is proud of his hard-earned success. Ms. Yuppie, 30, inhabits the same planet as Mr. Yuppie. She is climbing the corporate ladder at breakneck speed without having to sleep with anyone to get there.
The one thing they have in common is that they both travel for work. They are hardworking and they like to dress the part. Plus, they share one dark secret: Both of them love bargains and are brand-conscious. These two qualities put together do not exactly make for a good match. Ms. Yuppie’s eyes glaze over when she sees the Burberry plaid in colors camel, black and red. Mr. Yuppie’s throat tightens in excitement when he sees the words Hugo Boss imprinted in leather. The only problem is that both of them don’t have time for leisure shopping here or abroad.
So when Mr. and Ms. Yuppie fly back in town from a trip abroad, the first thing they do is go to Duty Free Philippines where they could satisfy both their need to acquire top labels in fashion and get a good price for these compared with the price they would have to pay in the domestic retail market. Six hundred and thirty dollars for a Burberry baguette denim bag? No problem, Ms. Yuppie will take all three sizes please and will whip out her Platinum Visa before you can finish the sentence "Will that be cash or charge?" Sixty-five dollars for a Boss cotton shirt? Mr. Yuppie is already in bargain heaven, imagining himself reclining on the portside of a yacht somewhere in Manila Bay. Two thousand dollars for a suit? Mr. Yuppie is fast deciding whether he should get the gray or the midnight blue or both.
In a sense, this is what duty-free shops are all about: The best brands in the world put in one place – tax-free. "The prices are lower by about 20 percent than what domestic retailers offer," says Duty Free’s Fashion Walk general manager Valeriano P. Calma.
The recently opened boutiques of Hugo Boss and Burberry at the Fashion Walk cater to young professionals and the not-so-young, too, as well as international tourists and local travelers. Tourists are a big slice of the market," says Calma. "Which is why to us it’s important for the country to have economic and political stability and for the tourism department to achieve better tourism programs. Our buyers are mainly Japanese and Koreans, Taiwanese and Chinese. From the local market, we have the professionals who are familiar with the brands."
The balikbayans usually pick the traditional pasalubong of chocolates, wines, cigarettes and perfumes. They also like the mid-market brands such as Elle, Benetton, Lacoste, Esprit, Nine West, Azalea. There are the other high-end brands Ermenegildo Zegna, Bruno Magli, and Salvatore Ferragamo and Cartier. There are also brand-less gems at Fashion Walk, like the scarves and pashminas from India.
The Hugo Boss boutique opened in early March, on the heels of Burberry opening. Both boutiques are up-to-date with the seasons abroad and carry mostly casual wear that can be worn for both the office and for leisure.
As travel retail head Nadine Heubel of Hugo Boss says, "Jeans are coming back to fashion and to the office, which I’m very happy about. We also have the marine look and more color in our merchandise.
This Hugo Boss boutique caters to men ages 25 to 35. The casual brand is called Hugo – they are clothes for the guy "who wants to wear something younger and not like his dad’s." You’ll find sports shirts, jackets, cotton and knit shirts, luggage, and leather belts, wallets and PDA cases. Of course, they also carry the Hugo dress shirts. The prices are actually not very steep, which is perfect for Mr. Yuppie.
So where are the famous Hugo Boss suits and its more expensive label called Baldessarini? (Hugo Boss suits start at $1,000; Baldessarini starts at $2,000 – all handmade suits and shoes.) As head of the travel retail department of Hugo Boss, Heubel has seen the world’s best airports and knows what travelers like to buy. She explains that in travel retail, Hugo Boss doesn’t sell so many suits. "We found out that when you want to do suits, you have to have a big selection. Sometimes, you also need to do adjustments like for the hemline and travelers don’t have the time for that."
As for Burberry, the women just love the merchandise the boutique carries. They so love it, in fact, that Fashion Walk recently had to place emergency orders from the London-based company for additional stocks.
"Burberry targets the same age group of 25 to 35," says Debbie F. Ongsip, Fashion Walk store operations manager. "But since the label has retained its classic image and styling, the merchandise looks great on both women just starting to work and the super lolas. In short, it’s for anyone who likes quality apparel and leather goods."
Fashion Walk buyer Patricia Barretto-Uy handles the Burberry line and says the boutique follows London’s seasonal collections. Naturally, they become more selective when it comes to the Fall/Winter collection, but as she reminds us, "Don’t forget that since travelers are our main market, we also have to consider that they sometimes need winter clothes for their trips abroad."
Ongsip says that in late October, Burberry will release its Fall/Winter collection, which is not to say that all the goods available at the Fashion Walk since summer will disappear. The classic clothes and accessories will remain – Burberry has always been about the classics – and so will some of the new striped designs. This season is about mixing rugged with romantic, about "sun-bleached knitwear, shorts, skirts and shirts."
Ms. Yuppie still has time to decide whether she needs a fourth denim bag.