GOING HIP AND HOT

Rustan’s is getting hipper and hotter. People with the taste and spending power for world-class brands used to claim Rustan’s as their very own shopping playground, a local Harrods or Barneys. But now, even the yuppies, and the young and restless fashionistas with hard-earned salaries and thinner wallets are flocking to Rustan’s. They are running all the way up to the "U" floor where music is cooler, lights are dimmer and prices are friendlier.

We thought that credit for this younger beat of Rustan’s belonged solely to the very creative third generation Tantocos. Until we attended the press launch of Rustan’s three new young brands – Sinequanone, XOXO and Hollywood – and shared a table with Ambassador Bienvenido Tantoco, Rustan’s venerable patriarch.

Would you believe that it was actually Ambassador Tantoco who brought in Sinequanone, that French brand with a modern edge? "I was window-shopping in Paris last year, and I noticed this nice shop with very feminine, elegant and sensuous clothes. I walked in and inquired," Tantoco narrates.

Fast forward: Tantoco meets with the Sinequanone top brass, agreements are signed, deliveries are made from Paris to Manila.

"Funny how at first, we included 24 winter coats in our first shipment to Manila and people thought nobody would buy them," recalls Isabelle Allix of Sinequanone, who flew in to Manila for the fashion launch. "We were amused to find out the 24 coats were sold out on the first day!"

Founded in 1973 by Jacques Nataf, Sinequanone is very contemporary. Modeled by the likes of Eva Herzigova and Audrey Marnay, Sinequanone’s RTW collection looks sexy, sensual, poetic and elegant too.

XOXO is fun, flirty and very feminine. Its staple is the Graphic Teaze, a collection of funky shirts with designs that vary monthly. Created for the young at heart, XOXO also has interesting accessories such as bags and wallets.

Hollywood Jeans is a Canadian brand that was born in the early ’80s, a time when the market was saturated with dark utilitarian jeans. What Hollywood Jeans did was introduce bleaching and stonewashing. Today, the brand is a fave of teens as well as the thirtysomething.

These three brands are just a few of the many exciting, very now finds at Rustan’s. Tantoco promises more new hot labels coming this year. Do we hear Zara? How about H&M? No, he isn’t telling yet.

If you can’t find your way to U, just take the escalator at Rustan’s, use your ears and follow the rhythm of the music.