STS : When the going gets tough, they go shopping
Yap Yok Foo
31st July 2001
When the going gets tough, they go shopping
Despite a gloomy economic outlook, style-conscious Singaporeans are
enabling high-end fashion boutiques to expand their operations here
By Serene Goh
RECESSION? What recession?
Big-spending Singaporeans are not letting a few bad economic reports
spoil their high-fashion fun.
In fact, well-heeled aficionados of top imported labels are picking up
where shoppers from Brunei, Thailand and Indonesia left off after the
last recession, say retailers.
Although last week's Straits Times Consumer Confidence Index showed a
gloomy economic outlook, style-conscious shoppers like Miss Jeannie
Lim, 29, remain unperturbed.
Of the $6,000 she takes home each month as a TV producer, the single
executive spends up to $2,000 on clothes, a habit she says she
inherited from her mother.
''If my mother's a Tatler - then okay - you can call me a Tat-ling,''
she said, referring to the local high-society magazine.
''I have champagne tastes, but I also appreciate the creativity of
designer clothes, and I'm not indiscriminate - if I pay $700 for a
skirt, I want it to make a statement.
"I have champagne tastes, but I also appreciate the creativity of
designer clothes, and I'm not indiscriminate. If I pay $700 for a
skirt, I want it to make a statement. I'm single, I'm working, I
deserve it.' -- TV producer Jeannie Lim, 29
''I'm single, I'm working, I deserve it,'' she added.
Indeed, while the downturn is forcing other retailers to scale down
their operations, patrons like Miss Lim are enabling high-end shops to
buck the trend.
Take wallet-bleeding players The Link boutique, Club 21 and Bluebell
Enterprises, all of which are expanding their operations.
Bluebell, without its own outlet here for more than 10 years, is
launching its Belle boutique at The Grand Hyatt on Scotts Road.
Differentiating itself from standard bearers like Moschino, the
boutique targets a younger crowd - and not just the usual tai-tais -
with clothes and accessories from more than 20 progressive designers,
including Katayone Adeli, Marc Jacobs, Anna Sui and Clements Ribeiro.
Slated to open sometime next month, Belle is going after luxury
consumers aged 25 to 40, who shop and travel a lot.
Distributors say this demographic group is more willing to experiment
with clothes - and easily spend more than $1,500 for a designer outfit
while doing so.
''Singaporean customers are more aware of brands,'' said Ms Dolly Tan,
Bluebell's fashion manager. ''They read a lot of foreign magazines and
have a better understanding of fashion.''
Club 21 will also add Dior Homme and the up-and-coming European label
DSquared to its men's boutique, as well as a string of new labels from
Australia, England and the United States to its Blackjack and Club 21
Ladies outlets.
Ms Monica Alsagoff, Club 21's marketing and communications manager,
said the company does not expect any major changes in the buying
patterns of its customers although, these days, they are ''more
selective and cautious'' about what they buy.
The Link, which carries Versace, is reviving such celebrity standbys
as Chloe and Dolce & Gabanna - brands that tanked in the 1997
recession.
As Mr Alphonsus Chung, advertising and public relations manager at The
Link, put it: ''When times are bad, people go shopping.''
In fact, he said shoppers were even buying Chloe stocks that will
arrive only next month.
''We've pre-sold about 30 per cent of the items we're bringing in for
Chloe just from catalogues,'' he said.
''We're really confident that we're going to do well.'
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg
**************From Uncle Yap**************
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