Master of the UNIVERS

Very few things excite me in Manila — it could be an artisanal ice cream brand that sells a salted caramel flavor, the new album of a talented local band, an offbeat performance art exhibit, or the opening of Univers d’ Homme et Femme.

Shopping in Manila can be boring for non-simple girls like me. Can you imagine what it was like when I was growing up? If you were a little bit offbeat or into fashion, you had to either make your own clothes or shop abroad. Sure, there’s Forever 21, Zara and Topshop now, but unless you want to look a little more edgy or unique, there are still very few choices in the market today. 

Thanks to the retails gods, Univers is finally upon us.

Univers is a lifestyle concept created by the 16-year-old retail mecca that is Homme et Femme.

Located at the new One Rockwell building, the store itself is a sight to behold, with its slate gray walls, high ceiling and lots of glass — all of which are designer Ed Calma’s signature look.

Despite the seemingly cold ambience of the space, I felt the warm fuzzies upon entering. I just knew it was a place I would keep going back to.

It’s hard to decide where to start looking, so I went through each section with some precision. I browsed through the male section, which has Adidas Y3, then moved on to Margiela, Porter bags, Comme des Garçons Play, and Rick Owens. 

Going through the women’s section, my jaw dropped upon seeing some of my favorite brands side by side — Balenciaga, Jil Sander, APC, Roland Mouret — a virtual candy land I find hard to resist.

Manuel Lotho, Homme et Femme’s press and media officer explains Univers d’ Homme et Femme means the “world of homme et femme,” or man and woman. “Univers is an evolution for us, in the sense that we are now moving into another sphere of influence.”

Besides fashion, the store also carries furniture pieces, home decor, candles, fragrances, as well as selected magazines — so you don’t have to buy them abroad. They have Self Service, Acne Paper, Monocle, Arena Homme Plus, Men’s Non-no, Casa Brutus and Vogue Nippon.

This showcases the holistic approach of Univers as a concept. As Lotho says, “It is a lifestyle that is reflective of one’s taste and fashion which includes the publications one reads, the art one sees, the objects that one surrounds one’s self.”

When asked about the Univers formula for selecting items that will go on the floor, Lotho emphasizes the store’s philosophy or the “Homme et Femme sensibility,” which is modern and directional, yet rooted in classicism — modern not being a point in time, but the manner in which something is done.

Apart from foreign brands and designers, Univers also stocks Philippine-made labels such as Eairth by Melissa Dizon and jewelry by Wynn Wynn Ong, evidence that local talents have the discipline for a particular global standard.

Uinivers d’ Homme et Femme is at One Rockwell’s East Tower, Makati City.

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Grace Velasco blogs at http://www.divasoria.ph.