I've been an avid fan of the overrated local designer store, I Love You Store, owned by three pretty ladies, Mimi Sanson, Corinne Ching and Sharon Atillo. Their store has always been far from my home when they were still in Makati Ave. and couldn't visit much. So I was OVERJOYED when they relocated to Cubao expo, a nearby place. I was there from the day they had their first opening in April then to a lot of their weekly parties when people just got drunk. The place was funky and you HAVE NO IDEA when I was so starstrucked to talked to Sharon and Mimi on my constant visits. But then, these constant visits turned into nightmares.
Their chief designer, Mimi, had always given off a reputation that she studied abroad as a fashion designer but then through one of my starstrucked moments of chatting with her she somewhat proudly said that she never graduated her fashion design course along with architecture, sculpting course. She said that the moment she learned everthing from the schools she went into, she dropped out because she knew enough already. She said that she studied a lot but just missed out on the diplomas, otherwise she was still credible. RIGHT, like we’d trust a doctor w/o a license? (well dear, people trust Vicky Belo... with their faces)
She also mentioned of her media-fasting which was to be totally void of media contact so that her creations are pure, which I now find stupid. By then I was in amazement and proposed it to my author friend who was taken aback. She said that how would she know how good she is if she can’t compare it to the great ones? Then she would never improve because since she thinks her stuff is great in her own little mind and never find fault.
The Store is famous for their haircuts wherein the customer would decide how much to pay based on satisfaction. Because of how much I looked up to this store, I once had my haircut while they were still in Makati and learned that they were just self taught. Nevertheless, my faith in the store was still strong. They claimed to match your face shape and personality so I went home thinking I had a great haircut. Everyone at home despised it, everyone at work thought I looked weird in a bad way. I never regretted a haircut so much. I usually go to Basement Salon or Toni and Guy to be assured of quality and I gave my complete trust to this Store. I thought I was just a slip up, a bad day. Everyone’s allowed to have one, right? Then again, I met 2 other people who I criticized the haircuts of and them saying where they got it from. Guess where!
A Paris-trained hairstylist acquaintance cameby and we took him out for dinner. I mentioned to him about my fave establishment and then still unfaltering faith in the store, told about the amazing fact that the hairstylists there just learned from scratch by themselves and he was AGHASTED. He said that even small-scaled salons somehow get training because there are basic principles in haircutting that must be learned.
The first thing I've noticed about the clothes I bought from the store was the smell. VERY BOTHERING. The smell was somewhat very musty, sweaty and sour. Even after handwashing a million times. At first I thought that I was emitting the smell but then I only notice this while wearing their clothes. This I just ignored. One day I was just there looking at their unupdated line and Mimi comes in with a bag of clothes from the ukay-ukay next door. (ukay ukay is a place where you get to buy totally used clothes from unknown donors) I literally heard her tell her employees that those clothes were the ones they were going to use to reconstruct and resell. I couldn’t believe my ears. All my one-of-a-kinds from this shop was bought from UKAYUKAY? Not that I’ve got anything against the thought of UKAYUKAY but it’s deceptive. You pay good money to get good quality designer clothes and then you find out they got their “Raw materials” from thrift shops? That’s totally deceptive. I, for one, am one of those people who would never buy anything from UKAYUKAY not because the stuff there are cheap but it’s just a principle of thought: who knows who used to own those clothes? A wife-beater? A guy with smelly armpit problem(and well all know THAT sticks to the shirt’s pits) I don’t care if their raw materials are inexpensive as well all know that a lot of designers get their raw mats from Divisoria. But stuff that are from UKAYUKAY are in a totally different lane. They might say they never said the stuff were brand new but isn’t a lack of action a fault too? They’re fooling their customers. It’s like Sweeney Todd there, you think you’re getting beef? Nah, it’s human meat!
I think it’s our right as customers to know that what we’re actually paying for. Once I found this out, I check out their racks and I actually found a shirt that’s got a linty area from overfriction of cloth. The I Love You Store continuously appears in magazines and other media but the world doesn’t know of its fakeness. They are faking their credibility. And media-fasting my ass, the way they open their doors to any media publicity.
Their chief designer, Mimi, had always given off a reputation that she studied abroad as a fashion designer but then through one of my starstrucked moments of chatting with her she somewhat proudly said that she never graduated her fashion design course along with architecture, sculpting course. She said that the moment she learned everthing from the schools she went into, she dropped out because she knew enough already. She said that she studied a lot but just missed out on the diplomas, otherwise she was still credible. RIGHT, like we’d trust a doctor w/o a license? (well dear, people trust Vicky Belo... with their faces)
She also mentioned of her media-fasting which was to be totally void of media contact so that her creations are pure, which I now find stupid. By then I was in amazement and proposed it to my author friend who was taken aback. She said that how would she know how good she is if she can’t compare it to the great ones? Then she would never improve because since she thinks her stuff is great in her own little mind and never find fault.
The Store is famous for their haircuts wherein the customer would decide how much to pay based on satisfaction. Because of how much I looked up to this store, I once had my haircut while they were still in Makati and learned that they were just self taught. Nevertheless, my faith in the store was still strong. They claimed to match your face shape and personality so I went home thinking I had a great haircut. Everyone at home despised it, everyone at work thought I looked weird in a bad way. I never regretted a haircut so much. I usually go to Basement Salon or Toni and Guy to be assured of quality and I gave my complete trust to this Store. I thought I was just a slip up, a bad day. Everyone’s allowed to have one, right? Then again, I met 2 other people who I criticized the haircuts of and them saying where they got it from. Guess where!
A Paris-trained hairstylist acquaintance cameby and we took him out for dinner. I mentioned to him about my fave establishment and then still unfaltering faith in the store, told about the amazing fact that the hairstylists there just learned from scratch by themselves and he was AGHASTED. He said that even small-scaled salons somehow get training because there are basic principles in haircutting that must be learned.
The first thing I've noticed about the clothes I bought from the store was the smell. VERY BOTHERING. The smell was somewhat very musty, sweaty and sour. Even after handwashing a million times. At first I thought that I was emitting the smell but then I only notice this while wearing their clothes. This I just ignored. One day I was just there looking at their unupdated line and Mimi comes in with a bag of clothes from the ukay-ukay next door. (ukay ukay is a place where you get to buy totally used clothes from unknown donors) I literally heard her tell her employees that those clothes were the ones they were going to use to reconstruct and resell. I couldn’t believe my ears. All my one-of-a-kinds from this shop was bought from UKAYUKAY? Not that I’ve got anything against the thought of UKAYUKAY but it’s deceptive. You pay good money to get good quality designer clothes and then you find out they got their “Raw materials” from thrift shops? That’s totally deceptive. I, for one, am one of those people who would never buy anything from UKAYUKAY not because the stuff there are cheap but it’s just a principle of thought: who knows who used to own those clothes? A wife-beater? A guy with smelly armpit problem(and well all know THAT sticks to the shirt’s pits) I don’t care if their raw materials are inexpensive as well all know that a lot of designers get their raw mats from Divisoria. But stuff that are from UKAYUKAY are in a totally different lane. They might say they never said the stuff were brand new but isn’t a lack of action a fault too? They’re fooling their customers. It’s like Sweeney Todd there, you think you’re getting beef? Nah, it’s human meat!
I think it’s our right as customers to know that what we’re actually paying for. Once I found this out, I check out their racks and I actually found a shirt that’s got a linty area from overfriction of cloth. The I Love You Store continuously appears in magazines and other media but the world doesn’t know of its fakeness. They are faking their credibility. And media-fasting my ass, the way they open their doors to any media publicity.
i love you store faces nasty allegations
Their tagline says Fashion Will Save the World. They pack their merchandise in plastic bottles and bag others in brown paper bags in showing their concern about the world. Their designer claims to be a nature-lover and pollution-hater but smokes.
Oh btw, I happened to learned that Tim Yap and Tina 'Ton'io are very good friends w/the bosses: no surprise there in the fakeyfakeyness.
Oh btw, I happened to learned that Tim Yap and Tina 'Ton'io are very good friends w/the bosses: no surprise there in the fakeyfakeyness.
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Hahaha, thanks for that little tid bit at the end.
