Fashionistas head for the Bleach
When I first ran into Bleach Catastrophe in TriNoma, there was no way I was not entering the store, because there’s nothing quite like it in Metro Manila.
While most of the town is preoccupied with glam and luxury, Bleach Catastrophe does the complete opposite, using mummy-looking creatures instead of the usual store mannequins, and found objects such as tin drums and shoeboxes as display fixtures.
A small favela hut serves as a fitting room. You could say this is a store after my heart.
Since then a second outlet has opened in Cebu and last October 2008, a third one opened at Greenbelt 5.
What makes this store unique is the luxury of space and how everything looks like art. Merchandise is uncluttered and limited, with pieces running up to only two dozens per color, per style.
It’s been a dream of mine to meet the people behind Bleach Catastrophe and find out what sort of folks go against the grain in a town that thrives on normalcy and convention.
I meet up with Cristine Villamiel who is 27 and creative director of Bleach Catastrophe. She comes from a family of teachers, artists, craftsmen and T-shirt manufacturers.
Straight after college, the Fine Arts graduate wanted to teach art to children, but fate had other plans for her. She ended up working in the family business and thought of opening a Filipino concept store based on the T-shirt.
The goal is to be known as a homegrown fashion label just like Greyhound and Fly Now in Thailand, Cristine says.
That dream is entirely possible with Bleach Catastrophe’s Cebu store having caught the attention of online trend forecasters, WGSN.com, which featured the store in December 2008.
Cristine says the Cebu store is popular among European and Japanese tourists visiting the island.
Though she’s no fashionista, Cristine absorbs what she can while traveling to other countries. She appreciates the sensibilities of Comme des Garçons, Martin Margiela and Paul Smith. And though she doesn’t really like shopping, her favorite stores are Page One, Muji and Giordano Concepts.
When I pointed out the favela hut idea resembling Dover Street Market in London, Cristine says she has never been there.
Her family is into carpentry too, so putting the store together was not a problem. Not when your father is a full-time artist who created the papier-mâché dummies.
Cristine runs the store with the help of her mom and brother who take care of the finance and sales, while she and her dad work on the creative side.
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Bleach Catastrophe is located at 3/L TriNoma; 2/L Ayala Center Cebu, Cebu City, and 2/L Greenbelt 5.
