Guerrilla store opens in Singapore

Guerrilla: A small group of independent people fighting for what they believe in. Imagine a store that is temporary and will open for only a year and then close whether it’s a hit or miss.

Imagine that one piece of clothing will cost you a month’s salary the entire stock will change every two weeks, never to reappear at that site.

Imagine the store is in a hard-to-find, out-of-the way place with no signage, in a low-rent area, and imagine that the total budget for interiors is no more than US$3,000.

While in Singapore last week, I went to such a store.

I almost had a heart attack when I found out there was a Comme des Garcons guerrilla store in town.

I knew there was one in Berlin and that others would open in other parts of Europe, but I had no idea there was one right next door in Asia!

Rules

I first found out about the guerrilla concept in i-D magazine. It is based on five basic rules:

1) The guerrilla store will last no more than one year in any given location.

2) The concept for interior design will be largely equal to the existing space.

3) The location will be chosen according to its atmosphere, historical connection, geographical situation away from established commercial areas or some other interesting feature.

4) The merchandise will be a mix of all seasons, new and old, clothing and accessories, existing or specially created, from Comme des Garcons’ brands and eventually other brands as well.

5) The partners will take responsibility for the lease and Comme des Garcons will support the store with the merchandise on a sale or return basis.

Further, Comme des Garcons will choose a local partner not directly related to fashion and has no fashion retail experience, in order to give a new and different point of view to the selling of clothes and accessories.

In Singapore, the store was set up and is managed by Theseus Chan of Work, together with his team of art directors and graphic designers.

As with the other guerrilla stores in Berlin and Barcelona, the merchandise will be a mix of new and old, carefully chosen by Comme des Garcons teams in Paris and Tokyo and will include previously unavailable goods as well as popular classic items, and the full range of Comme des Garcons perfumes.

Beyond Excited

I was beyond excited when our Singaporean guide Winnie took four of us press people from Manila to the guerrilla store in Chinatown.

Singapore’s Chinatown is unlike what we have locally. On a Saturday noon, it was clean and not crowded. Good deals were everywhere. Lots of inexpensive merchandise lined the streets. I would love to spend a day there!

Unfortunately, there was not enough time to go through all of it, but thank God, the group let me have my chicken rice, all of Singapore $8 for Winnie and me. That’s around P320 for really good chicken rice.

I couldn’t believe Comme des Garcons opened a store there, among the cheap merchandise!

I quickly swallowed my food, then we set out to look for the store. I was too excited and completely missed the spot. Winnie found it. It was marked by a propaganda poster on the wall.

We went up an old staircase reminiscent of Dutch houses and found a door on the left side of the landing.

The door was covered in propaganda poster. We knocked. When the door opened, I froze for a few seconds upon seeing the clothes on the racks.

I quickly went near to take a look and touch them. There were not many styles, so much space between hangers.

I zeroed in on a pink floral felt coattail, done in unfinished Comme des Garcons fashion. It fit me so well, I could cry. I read the price tag: more than Sing $1,500 or P47,500 in our money. For a while there, I thought about starving myself. But I have kids so I had to let go.

I was tempted to get something from the lovely Comme des Garcons Fred Perry line, but the sports bags were a bit big and heavy for me.

Isha Andaya of Preview helped herself to a pink and green banig clutch bag. I got envious, so I picked up a more affordable bag made of bows.

The staff was friendly and dressed in full CDG attire. I watched while they carefully wrapped our bags in white tissue and stuffed them into black trash bags twist-tied like a present. You know when you love a place so much, you just have to take home a part of it? In Singapore, the Comme des Garcons guerrilla store is on 26a Temple Street in Chinatown and will close on May 22, 2005.

Comme des Garcons guerrilla stores can also be found in off-the-couture-radar cities Barcelona (Spain), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Helsinki (Finland), Stockholm (Sweden) and Warsaw (Poland), with more to follow in Brooklyn (New York) and downtown Los Angeles.