California sentiments invades Manila

MANILA, Philippines - The news of American retail brand Bebe opening its first-ever branch in the country was a bit of a puzzling surprise. A brand that was seen on the pages of magazines likeYM back in the late ‘90s, Bebe has a throwback sheen to it: baby tees and tank tops emblazoned with crystals that spell the logo in front. With a foreign label or two opening new stores in Manila almost every week for the past year, Bebe has a lot of catching up to do, as shrunken-fit tops won’t cut it in the current competition for the Filipino shoppers’ attention and money.

But the brand seems more than ready to join the fray, and at its new store at the Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Bebe is armed with pieces geared to appeal to the trendy, body-conscious crowd: snug-fit jeans, bandage skirts, peplum tops, form-fitting mini-dresses, gauzy maxi dresses with asymmetrical skirts, and double-knit pieces that cling to curves.

It’s an aesthetic that Rich Pierson, vice president for international and global licensing for Bebe, describes as “very Hollywood red carpet. The Bebe girl is a 9-to-5 girl: alive from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. She’s in her 20s up to early 30s, has finished college, is employed, is still single, and likes to go out and look great.” Pierson was in Manila to witness Bebe’s formal launch. Though the store has been open since July 25, the event was Bebe’s grand introduction to the Manila media and the public.

When asked how the brand would edge its way into the competitive retail market in the Philippines, Pierson says, “We’re a dress company and we’re a lifestyle brand. That Hollywood lifestyle that Bebe presents is what the customer is buying into, besides, of course, the better quality of products and better styles we offer that’s different from the boxed fast fashion offered by these other companies.”

Founded in 1976 by Manny Mashouf in San Francisco, Bebe has long been a fashion proponent of the California lifestyle, with the Golden State’s eternal sunshine, beach culture, and Los Angeles party scene serving as the bedrock of the brand’s aesthetic and attitude. Though there have been significant changes within the company recently, such as a global relaunch strategy and the appointment of a new CEO, Steve Birkhold, last January and of new heads for marketing and design, Pierson says that the Californian spirit on which the brand was founded will remain strong as Bebe builds up its position in the Southeast Asian market. Of the relaunch strategy, he divulges, “It’s not so much a new direction as it is a return to the roots of the company, what made it famous back in the early 2000s: making women feel confident and sexy by giving them great going-out dresses.”

Bebe has been in the Asian market since 2006, opening its first store in the region in Singapore, followed by shops opening in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam, before Bebe and its Asian partners RSH (Royal Sporting House) Limited finalized plans for a Philippine branch. “We felt that this is the right time,” Pierson says of the long wait. “We have been talking about it for the past three years, and it was a matter of finding the right location and time. It made a lot of sense to open a Manila store now, as the brand is in the middle of the relaunch strategy, and that will be made evident to the public with the marketing campaigns that will be coming out in the next few months.”

For now, shoppers can check out the Bebe store stocked with the brand’s latest pre-fall collection, California Sentiment. “Even though it’s for pre-fall, the clothes are still very easy and breezy,” describes Jullie Tay, regional general manager for Bebe. Aside from the logo division –– those knit tops and tank tops sporting the Swarovski-encrusted Bebe logo (the tops come with a tag that certifies the brand’s use of authentic Swarovski crystals) –– there are vibrant tropical prints on dresses, blouson tops, and jeans, elaborately beaded and embellished pieces, and black and white moto-inspired items. There are also evening wear options such as a long-sleeved red dress with a billowing, electro-pleated skirt and drapey column dresses in jewel tones, plus accessories such as bags, shoes and belts. “Every store globally gets the same products,” says Pierson. “All of our latest collections are brought in, specifically chosen for the local market: out of a range of, say, a hundred products, we’ve selected the best 40 pieces for the Philippine shoppers, and we’ve worked closely with our local partners to make sure that we are providing the right products for the customers here.”

Price points, he admits, are higher here than in the United States. With tops priced between P3,000 and P5,000, jeans around P6,000, and dresses from P8,000 to P10,000, Bebe is consciously targeted toward the affluent market, aiming for an aspirational image. The four-figure price tags seemed to have been no deterrent to some shoppers, though; according to the friendly sales staff at Bebe, the most popular items so far, with the store open for only a month, are the knit logo tops.

Bebe promises new items added to the store selection every week and a new collection shipped in every month, all embodying the young, sexy and hip Californian identity. “That’s what differentiates Bebe from these other clothing stores,” Pierson says. “They’re stores; we’re a brand. We continue to adhere to the principle on which Bebe was founded, we don’t just take what’s trendy right now and put them in our stores. Every item in the Bebe collection is built on that signature California look.”

As for the brand name’s roots, he clarifies, “No, it didn’t come from ‘bebe,’” referring to the French word for baby (pronounced ”beh-beh”). Rather, Bebe (pronounced ”bee-bee”) was derived from a famous soliloquy written by the Bard. “The founder was talking about Shakespeare with his friends at a party, before he even established the brand. “To be or not to be’ –– that’s where ‘Bebe’ came from.”

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Bebe is located at the ground floor of the Shangri-La Plaza Mall.