IT is Saturday afternoon in Singapore and it is sweltering hot but lines of people are braving the weather as they snake around The Pit Building at Republic Boulevard, waiting to gain entrance into the building. Did Lewis Hamilton extend his stay in Singapore and was he hanging out at the pit signing autographs for eager fans? Hardly. Rather, hardcore fashionistas - or perhaps recessionistas as they seem to be called now - were anxiously waiting to enter the building for Club 21's annual bazaar sale where clothing from labels that the fashion retailer carries like Yohji Yamamoto and Dries van Noten can be on sale at up to 80 per cent of their retail prices. And although it is easy to assume that the queue is only filled with bargain hunters, in reality, many of the customers are regular customers at Club 21 boutiques outside of sale periods as well. Sales manager Vianna Tan for example is one of them.
An avid fan of Club 21's labels, she visits the sale religiously every year on top of regular visits to their boutique. This time she emerged victorious with nine pieces of clothing from brands like MaxMara, Calvin Klein and AX.
'I work, so it is difficult for me to visit the Club 21 boutique as regularly as I would like to,' she says. 'As the bazaar puts everything under one roof, it is a good way for me to catch up on clothing that I might have missed out on.' Ms Tan was also at On Pedder's annual warehouse sale two weekends ago at the Raffles City Convention Hall. 'The only thing is that you have to be a careful shopper because a lot of the items are off-season. I, for one will only buy items that are more basic and that I can mix and match with my more current items of clothing. 'But apart from all that, given the current economic climate, I believe that this is a good way for shoppers who appreciate designer wear to purchase clothing at more affordable prices.'
SLIM PICKINGS: Clothes that were sold at the last Link sale featured labels like Pucci (above) and alldressedup (top picture, right). Luxury retailer The Link has been using warehouse sales to clear stock as long as 20 years ago and they have always been well-received
According to industry players, bazaar sales like Club 21's are not uncommon and are mainly used to clear leftover stock but in these tough times have really gained in popularity. One good example would be FJ Benjamin's bazaar sale held during the Formula 1 weekend in September where all of the retailer's labels with the exception of Celine were involved. 'Sales were exceptionally good this time round, perhaps due to the economic climate' reveals FJ Benjamin's spokesman Ben Benjamin with a laugh, adding that sales figures were more than 40 per cent above the company's expectations. 'Honestly though, bazaar sales are a good way for Singaporeans to purchase designer clothing at attractive prices and we get to sell our clothing. It's a win-win situation!' As one working professional puts it, 'Like a lot of people, I have been waiting for the sales. I haven't been doing much shopping in general, partly because of the economy and partly because I am so busy,' she says. 'However, I know that people are asking sales ladies to hold items for them until the sales and because they have relationships with the stores, they are cooperating.'
Luxury retailer The Link has been using warehouse sales to clear stock as long as 20 years ago and they have always been well-received. The Link's vice-president of marketing communications Alphonsus Chung says: 'Bazaar Sales are always well-received be it in good or not so good times! Everybody loves a good designer label bargain for sure.'
He reveals that although most of the company's clients are fashion leaders who find it important to be seen in the latest collections, some of them still pop by the bazaar sales.
'We have a very small percentage of regular customers who come by for the Bazaar Sale collection. They probably want to pick up items for daily and casual use or some may bring their daughters or friends to have fun hunting for good designer deals,' points out Mr Chung.
Warehouse sales aside, fashionistas/recessionistas can also find bargains via designer tie-ups. Fashionistas used to high-end luxury goods are becoming more flexible in the range of brands that they shop from. 'I buy pieces from second lines much more often - such as See by Chloe, or Marc by Marc Jacobs - because the prices are much more reasonable. The main lines still keep their prices very high, despite the financial crisis,' says one fashion-forward homemaker.
As a result, these diffusion lines, along with high street labels and retailers such as Topshop and H&M are experiencing a surge in popularity. Another from the ladies-who-lunch set says, 'I'm shopping at Petit Bateau and H&M these days, because they use good fabrics and have great price points. I have bought a few high-end pieces, but my shopping at these stores has gone down by about 70 per cent.'
Adds a male entrepreneur, 'I'm not shopping anywhere, to be honest. I definitely wouldn't splash out on something like a tiara or anything, but if I needed something, I would buy it. But, instead of going to Ralph Lauren or Ermenegildo Zegna for basics, I would probably go to Zara.'
Perhaps one of the earliest pioneers of designer tie-ups was Swedish clothing giant H&M having commissioned sold-out collections with Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney and most recently Rei Kuwakabo of Commes des Garcon fame. The store - with outlets in Hong Kong and China - may not yet have plans to open a boutique in Singapore but their tie-ups are always big news to local fans who will find a way to get their hands on their new products.
H&M's press contact Håcan Andersson says: 'We always want to surprise our customer, and the collaborations go hand in hand with our business concept: fashion and quality at the best price.'
Their close competitor, Topshop has also caught on the idea, albeit choosing up-and-coming designers over the established ones when it comes to collaborations. Wing Tai, that brings in Topshop stocks a sprinkling of these collaborations in Singapore like Louise Goldin and Emma Cook, chosen for their potential and commercial viability for Singapore's market. 'As much as possible, we want to showcase the creativity of these promising British designers as well as to introduce and provide avenues for shoppers to appreciate these capsules,' says Wing Tai's spokesman who reveals that British designers Celia Birtwell and Peter Jensen are very popular with local consumers.
'Riding on Topshop's expertise on production, marketing and distribution, these designer labels are made very accessible to everyone as compared if they were to do it on own. Besides these limited collections only come in low quantity and priced at a small premium. We believe there is still a demand for such exclusivity.' The demand for such collaborations is exemplified by the slew of designer tie-ups entering the market, the most recent of which were Alexander McQueen for Target and Patricia Field for Marks & Spencer. The former cannot be found in Singapore but the latter's 35-piece collection is available at Marks & Spencer Paragon at prices ranging from $120 to $390.
And inspired by Singaporeans' demand for affordable designer ware, marketing manager Madeleine Ho organised a special 'Shop My Wardrobe', bazaar sale last Deepavali weekend together with seven of her hand-picked fashionista friends.
'I wanted to make sure that nobody was using the sale to sell off really old clothing which is what happens at most flea market stores. In our case most of the stuff were items that we didn't mind keeping just that we don't wear them too often,' she says.
'We wanted our clothing to go to real fashion lovers so even the items at say $5 could be a brand new BCBG Maxazria top that the seller just never got down to wearing.'
The one-off bazaar that was set up to clear the wardrobes of the organisers had designer items like a Fendi bag going for $290 and a vintage Dior handbag at $490.
Despite the fact that it was located on the third floor of the relatively quiet Stamford House, footfall and sales were surprisingly good. 'We thought that given the economic climate and our location the sale might be a bit quiet but it was packed,' exclaims Ms Ho. 'Then again, perhaps it was precisely because times are tough that our sale was so popular as it was a good way to get affordable designer wear.'
