Businessman Ben Chan was in a jovial mood at the recent press preview for the 30th anniversary show of Bench. He had just come from Japan to attend Amazon Tokyo Fashion Week, where the three winners of the first Bench Design Awards showed their creations to an international audience.
“We held a pop-up Bench store in Tokyo at the same time,” Chan proudly told Lifestyle.
That the lifestyle brand has come a long way is an understatement. Bench started out as department store brand that sold T-shirts and denims, but has since expanded to include casual ladies’ wear, underwear, fragrances and accessories. It now has dozens of standalone branches all over the Philippines, as well as in the United States, the Middle East and China.
Bench is likewise one of the pioneers in signing local and foreign celebrity endorsers, starting three decades ago with a young actor named Richard Gomez.
On Nov. 18, these celebs will descend on the Mall of Asia Arena for the brand’s denim and underwear extravaganza, “Under the Stars: The Bench 30th Anniversary Show.”
Media guests were treated to a preview that featured sexy stunners Maxine Medina, Bianca King, Beauty Gonzalez, Sanya Lopez and Kim Domingo, as well as hot young hunks
Albie Casino, Ken Chan, Addy Raj, Kiko Estrada, Bruno Gabriel, David Licauco, Mark Mugen and Marco Gumabao.
What can viewers expect at the milestone show? “It’s going to be even bigger and better. It has to be,” Chan said.
These talents will be joined by 47 of the country’s hottest stars including Lovi Poe, Solenn Heussaff, Maine Mendoza, Enrique Gil, Kim Chiu, Julia Barretto, Paulo Avelino, Ellen Adarna, Richard Gutierrez, Tom Rodriguez, Coleen Garcia, Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla.
They will be sharing the stage with Bench international endorsers like Austrian model Ivo Buchta, supermodel Trevor Signorino, and the world’s hottest math teacher and Global Benchsetter Pietro Boselli.
Also making their respective runway appearances are beauty queens Ara Arida, MJ Lastimosa, Joanna Eden, Gwen Ruais, Valerie Weigmann, Bea Rose Santiago, Cyntia Tomalla, Hillary Parungao, Queenie Rehmann, and recently crowned Reina Hispanoamericana Winwyn Marquez. Over 100 models, all handpicked from Bench’s local casting dates, will also take part in this anticipated event of the year.
Joining the models, celebrities, and special guests for this year’s show are acrobatic performers who will be flown in from Canada, as well as German model and gymnast Daniel Morres, who will perform alongside fellow gymnasts Christian Berczes, Christian Kiel and Tobias Peter Wolf.
The campaign was shot against a backdrop of stars, trees and boulders by photographers Mark Nicdao and Cenon Norial III. Stylist and Bench creative consultant Noel Manapat worked with long-time Bench collaborators fashion director Robby Carmona, production designer Gino Gonzales, and international production team Les 7 Doigts de la Main, headed by creative director Gypsy Snider.
It’s not too late to get invites to the event. A minimum purchase inclusive of any Bench Body underwear or Bench OJ Denim from selected Bench, Herbench, and Bench Body stores entitles buyers to free admission.
For cash, EPS and non-Bench MasterCard transactions, every P600 single-receipt purchase entitles buyers to one General Admission seat; a P1,200 single-receipt purchase is equivalent to one Upper Box seat; and a P2,500 single-receipt purchase gets one Lower Box seat.
“Under the Stars: The Bench 30th Anniversary Show” will be on Nov. 18 at Mall of Asia Arena.
