Luxury brands, beauty and streetwear rule the retail scene post-Covid-19

/ EdgeProp Singapore |

November 4, 2022 9:45 AM SGT

Luxury brands performed exceptionally well during Covid and continue to enjoy brisk sales (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - Beauty, especially skincare, proved remarkably resilient during the first two years of Covid-19. “We will continue to see more beauty retail stores opening as Singapore welcomes more tourists,” says Sulian Tan-Wijaya, executive director of retail and lifestyle at Savills Singapore.

ION Orchard now houses Christian Dior’s first standalone facial boutique in Asia, Dior Prestige La Suite, and South Korean skincare brands The History of Whoo and Su:m37.

Tan-Wijaya says Raffles City Shopping Centre’s major revamp saw the opening of outlets from Sephora, new Anglo-French luxury fragrance house Creed and Australian beauty and wellness spa Rationale. French brands Guerlain and Givenchy Beauty will open their first standalone flagship boutiques in November.

Raffles City’s major revamp saw the opening of Sephora (pictured) and the new Anglo-French luxury fragrance house Creed (Photo: CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust)

Having joined Savills in 2008 to set up the retail and lifestyle division, Tan-Wijaya has a front-row seat to the changing trends in these two sectors over the years. “Luxury brands performed exceptionally well during Covid and continue to enjoy brisk sales even with price increases by luxury giants Chanel, Hermes and Louis Vuitton,” she says. “Rolex continues to see a worldwide shortage, and prices in the secondary market spiked up during Covid due to overwhelming demand.”

She sees street fashion becoming a cultural phenomenon. Luxury giants Balenciaga and Gucci both launched collaborations with Adidas. Louis Vuitton’s Nike Air Force 1 sneakers can sell for US$2,000 ($2825), while Dior’s limited-edition Air Jordan 1 retailed at US$2,000 to US$2,200, adds Tan-Wijaya.

Work-from-home during the pandemic has also created a trend towards more casual and comfortable work wear. Athleisure brands like Lululemon, Adidas and Nike have benefitted as more workers opt for sneakers and fashionable sportswear.

Sulian Tan-Wijaya: Street fashion becoming a cultural phenomenon with luxury giants Balenciaga and Gucci both launching collaborations with Adidas (Photo: Savills Singapore)

Adidas Brand Centre with its largest store in Singapore opened in January. The store occupies 18,000 sq ft across three floors at 270 Orchard Road.

Puma opened their 7,100 sq ft flagship store at 313@somerset in July. Meanwhile, in September, Korean streetwear retailer MLB opened its new flagship 1,292 sq ft store at Mandarin Gallery. Japanese sneaker platform SNKRDUNK opened its flagship 1,370 sq ft store at Mandarin Gallery in mid-October.

“The pandemic also drew more people to the gym, resulting in a proliferation of new fitness and spinning studios all over Singapore,” she adds. Fitness operators have aggressively grown their footprint by taking over retail and F&B spaces.

The new Adidas Brand Centre has an 18,000 sq ft store across three floors at 270 Orchard Road (Photo: Google Maps)

“When Singapore lifted their last Covid restrictions, we received a flood of enquiries from operators looking for new space for clubs, KTVs and live bands,” says Tan-Wijaya. “However, the spaces allowing such trades are few and far between.” Some retail or coworking spaces have also been converted to other uses, such as e-sports, she adds.

GR.iD, the repositioned POMO on Selegie Road, is a youth-themed, 92,000 sq ft mall. One of its anchors is Wave, a 16,000 sq ft family KTV and casual dining space which Tan-Wijaya had placed in the mall. GR.iD officially opened in February.

Meanwhile, established brands like Zara are consolidating their store count in Singapore, having exited their Liat Towers and Ngee Ann City spaces. Apparel brand The Editor’s Market took over Zara’s Ngee Ann City space. Its 8,000 sq ft flagship includes a gourmet cafe and The Market Square to host events and workshops. Taking Zara’s place at Liat Towers is homegrown furniture Castlery’s flagship store, a street-front duplex of 24,000 sq ft. Tan-Wijaya was involved in the deal.

German sportswear maker Puma opened its largest outlet of 7,100 sq ft at 313@Somerset in July (Photo: Puma)

She was also instrumental in bringing in the local retailer of European luxury furniture Marquis, which took up 15,000 sq ft at Marina Square. Marquis QSquare opened last October.

“As long as Singapore continues to attract tourists, the Central and Orchard area will continue to shine into 4Q2022 and 2023,” says Tan-Wijaya. “Badly hit during the pandemic, the buzz has returned to CBD while tourists throng Orchard Road in great numbers.”

However, she adds that this positive outlook is somewhat dampened by inflation and recession fears, “which may force consumers to cut their discretionary spending”.

Japanese sneaker platform SNKRDUNK opened its first overseas flagship at Singapore’s Mandarin Gallery in October (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

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