If one still needed proof that the Philippines is already on the radar of high-end brands, one got it last Friday night. The chairperson and managing director of Comme des Garçons flew to Manila Friday morning, checked out its store at Univers, and went around the high-end malls.

 

At the end of the day, even if still fighting jetlag, Adrian Joffe, was in high spirits, as he was hosted at dinner by Univers’ Mark “Jappy” Gonzalez, Margarita Fores at Lusso, with other guests, the Comme des Garçons’ “loyalists”—those who don’t wear any other brand but.

 

Joffe sits as head of the more than $130-million fashion brand. He is also the spouse of Rei Kawakubo, the Japanese designer behind the iconic brand that first gained following more than 20 years ago, when she went against the trends and fashion’s convention to assert a woman’s freedom and individuality.

 

Joffe said he hopes to expand in the Philippines. “I like what I see,” he said.