It’s an Alaïa!

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“YOU don’t understand. This is an Alaïa,” said Alicia Silverstone’s character in 1995’s Clueless upon being told to hit the ground while wearing a red number with a black feather trim. “He’s like, a totally important designer.”

Just in time for the ’90s resurgence 30 years after that line was delivered, Rustan’s now has the Alaïa brand in its stores.

Founded by Tunisian-French designer Azzedine Alaïa (who passed away in 2017), the brand once reigned in the late 1980s to ’90s.  It skyrocketed to fame worldwide with the help of muses like Naomi Campbell. Today, the brand has Peter Mulier as its Creative Director (though his departure was announced earlier this month by WWD).

While Alaïa is yet to find a permanent home in Rustan’s Makati, there is a pop-up in its beauty floor (a search for the Alaïa website on Google also leads to a Philippines-only link: maison-alaia.com/en-ph/). On the shelves are displayed some of Alaïa’s leather goods. There’s the Le Mina bag, made of laser cut leather. An item that went viral last year, the east-west oriented Le Teckel (a name for sausage-shaped dogs) is also on display, alongside the Vienne (a line of Mary Jane shoes with the same laser cut on the Le Mina), and many other stylish shoes besides.

“We’re proud to say that Rustan’s is the first to bring in the brand,” said Jackie Avecilla, head of marketing for Rustan Commercial Corp., in an interview at the sidelines of another event on March 24. “We didn’t advertise; we did nothing. But oh my God, it’s selling like hotcakes.”

She said that some styles are already out of stock: “Good problem on our end,” she said, and new stocks will come in after Easter (the shoes are apparently the top sellers).

“It kind of cements the position of Rustan’s as the premier luxury retail destination,” she said. “We’re proud that these brands like Alaïa… and the rest to come, partner, or choose Rustan’s as the first store in which to set foot in the Philippines.”

“Our goal is really to modernize Rustan’s. Admittedly, it’s a 75-year-old store, and we want to bring in the younger generation without necessarily alienating our loyal clients,” she explained. “By bringing in these fresh, contemporary, modern, and young brands, we are able to attract that younger generation,” she said.

“We have more brands coming — I’m sorry, I can’t divulge — we have a lot of new fashion brands; very exciting, all coming this year.”

Check out the Alaïa pop-up at the 1^st floor of Rustan’s Makati. — Joseph L. Garcia