They haven't folded

We were just talking about this a few weeks ago.

We were wondering what happened to Folded & Hung.

This clothing brand was the rage in the 00s to 10s. They had a lot of edgy, fashion-forward clothes that teens and young adults used as their fashion uniform.

They also had collaborations with designers, as well as campaigns fronted by huge celebrities.

They had stores in all the major malls, with some stores being bigger than the more entrenched local fast fashion brands. So, it was clearly a success.

Oh, and proof of its success can be seen in the origins of the store. It started out in a dental clinic, and the dentist would bring out clothes and show them to his patients right after their treatment. Yup, it's a true story - the dentist/owner is a friend of my sister's. And she experienced this first hand.

Then, the stores started to dwindle. And the stores I'd frequent started to close one-by-one.

So, we thought the brand was completely gone.

Apparently not:

They still have this kiosk inside The Landmark in Makati.

Glad to know that they haven't folded just yet.

Missing Muji

Muji always brings back good memories.

When I was still living in HKG, one of the stores that I never got tired of visiting was Muji in Mira Place. It was my "black hole" before Uniqlo came along.

I'd walk in, check out snacks and stationery items, and suddenly, more than an hour passed. Then, I'd walk b y their clothing section, then another hour would fly by.

There's something about Muji that's so calming. That's why it's so easy to just hang out in that store.

Then, there's the Muji in Tokyo Midtown. It's the place where I'd be while waiting for Mark to finish his classes. 

It's been a while since I last stepped into a Muji store. Last March, I dropped off my cousins from Spain at Muji in Greenbelt because they wanted to shop there. As much as I wanted to accompany them inside, there were other errands that needed to be done.

One of my colleagues said that there's a huge Muji store in Shangrila Plaza Mall. And now that I'm writing about Muji and missing it a lot more, I'll have to visit that store very soon.

Not a Cinderella story...

Once upon a time...

Cinderella used to be the biggest and hippest place to buy clothes. Back in the 80s and 90s, the fashionable set would flock to Cinderella to catch the latest trends in fashion. They were seen as the brand that's super cool, super fashionable, and a must-have for everyone who wanted to look preppy and fashion-aware.

Inside their stores, you could find the coolest brands like Esprit, San Francisco, Seventeen, British India and Reno. They had the must-wear jeans, shirts and jackets. And they even had an exclusive Model's club which every teen wanted to be part of.

Among the retail stores in its class, they had some of the biggest stores. Their Glorietta branch had 3 floors, the one in SM Megamall had 2 floors, and the Ali Mall one had 1/4th of the floor area.

Then, the global fast fashion brands came in. Forever 21, H&M, Zara, Pull and Bear - that batch changed the landscape in fashion. As these brands grew bigger, Cinderella got smaller. Their merchandise started to become not-so-cool, and the fashionable set started to shy away.

By the 2010s, their stores became smaller, and their clientele, much, much fewer.

Last December, I went to Glorietta with Mark. The space where they had their 3 floor store was boarded up, and this is what was left of Cinderella.

Cinderella is now a small blip of a shop, selling evening wear which looks like overruns.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a guy who wore a lot of Cinderella, and I'm still hoping that they'll make a comeback and go back to the stature they had in the 80s.

Let's hope that happy ending happens.

The land of the free-standing!

This weekend, I discovered that there was a free standing Uniqlo store in Quezon Avenue, just beside Fisher Mall!

It was so intriguing that I had to check it out. Boy, it felt like I was in Japan when I was there. Heck, there were 3 Japanese staff there, too.

I'm sure I'll be visiting this branch again soon.

Here comes the Navy!

Here's further proof that Old Navy is indeed coming to Philippine shores! Their first store is currently being constructed in Glorietta 3, just beside Zara. Incidentally, both are SSI owned brands.

I can't wait to see what Old Navy has to offer Filipino shoppers. And I hope that they'll do good here, especially since their performance in Tokyo (their first Asian store) has been lackluster.