Galeries Lafayette Jakarta is marking its first anniversary with a host of new collections. (Photo courtesy of Galeries Lafayette)
Galeries Lafayette Jakarta overflowed with the city’s creme de la creme last week; more than 2,200 glitteratis showed up at the upmarket French department store. Dressed in vibrantly hued dresses and suits, their presence spiced up the store’s first anniversary celebration that evening.
“I love the party tonight,” said Dutch-Indonesian singer, actress and model Rebecca Soejati Reijman. “The crowd is fabulous and their dresses are so beautiful and colorful.”
Reijman, who is a loyal customer of Galeries Lafayette in Europe, was happy to find the department store in Jakarta.
“Now I don’t have to go very far to buy my favorite cosmetics and fashion brands,” said the 29-year-old.
Galeries Lafayette Jakarta was the first branch of the French store to open in Asia in June 2013.
Sprawled over four floors at the Pacific Place Mall, the store carries more than 350 brands, about 40 percent of which are exclusive to Galeries Lafayette.
About 15 percent of their brands are by young local designers, such as Ardistia Dwiasri, Didiet Maulana, Peggy Hartanto and Stella Rissa. Their collections, which are mainly displayed in the women’s evening wear section on the first floor, are among the best-selling items of the department store.
The highlight of the anniversary party was a fashion parade of Galeries Lafayette Jakarta’s spring/summer 2014 collections.
Some 60 looks by popular French pret-a-porter labels Maje, Sandro, Zadig & Voltaire, The Kooples and Israeli-American designer Elie Tahari were showcased in the fashion parade.
Their collections were a riot of fresh colors and floral and animal prints that presented a relaxed, elegant style. Chic metallic clutches and tote bags highlighted some of the women’s looks.
“I think Galeries Lafayette has splashed a new color to Indonesia’s fashion scene,” said Indonesian actor Dwi Andhika. “Their collections are always fresh and sophisticated. That’s why I always love to drop by and browse the store’s collections.”
Galeries Lafayette Jakarta’s clientele is definitely growing. Today, the store has more than 30,000 members, 5 percent of whom are VIP members who hold the gold Fidelite membership card. The store’s Facebook fan page has more than 50,000 followers.
“We’re really happy that after one year we’ve achieved all the targets,” said Mathias Mamodbay, Galeries Lafayette Jakarta’s deputy store manager.
Over the next year, the department store will focus more on understanding and meeting their customers’ expectations.
“Now we have a CRM [customer relationship management] analysis to know what the customers are looking for and what brands,” Mamodbay said.
The department store has also added a number of new services and fashion brands for their loyal customers, including a fashion adviser to help customers choose the right looks for special occasions.
“We’re the first department store in Jakarta that offers the services of a fashion adviser,” said Jeanette Anandajoo, the store’s fashion adviser.
Jeanette, who graduated from Lasalle International College Jakarta, previously worked as fashion stylist and reporter for a lifestyle magazine in Jakarta.
“Fashion advisers make the lives of their customers easier,” she said. “We help them choose the right outfits to attend the many social occasions in the metropolis and make sure that they look fabulous.”
Fidelite gold members may request the fashion adviser’s services for free. Other customers have to pay Rp 800,000 ($69) per session, which can take between two and three hours.
“It may take some time to interview the client and get to know their personality,” Jeanette said. “I want to provide them with an outfit that fits their personality, as well as the dress codes of the events that they’re attending.”
Non-gold members can get the fashion adviser’s services for free if they spend more than Rp 10 million in the store.
Shoppers love to browse through the store’s new collections to find an interesting thing or two. But few are willing to go through all the trouble of fitting them up, one by one, to find the one that really looks good on them.
Galeries Lafayette Jakarta has now come up with a solution to this little problem: Standing at the heart of its first floor is the “Magic Mirror.”
The Magic Mirror acts as a virtual fitting room for the customers. It showcases their latest collections on its life-sized silver screen. All you have to do is to stand in front of the mirror, and allow it to “try” the clothes on you.
“It will greatly help those who don’t have the time to walk around the store, to find the items that would look good on them,” said Vera Waloeyo, the department store’s public relations and communications supervisor.
With the Magic Mirror, shoppers can also take a picture of themselves “wearing” the latest collections from Galeries Lafayette Jakarta and send it to their e-mail address, including the prices of the items being tried on, for further consideration.
On the occasion of its first anniversary, Galeries Lafayette is also showcasing ready-to-wear collections by four promising students of Esmod Jakarta: Se.Vier, Fervore, Shakhor and CTRL.
The collections accommodate the busy, dynamic lifestyle of Jakarta’s young people with their casual and sporty collections, and will be available until June 1.
The store also plans to introduce 20 Muslim fashion labels by local designers during Ramadan.
“We’re excited,” Mamodbay said. “Now [the store] is like a baby. It starts to walk after one year. The next step is to start to run and bring new collections and new brands, related to customer’s expectations.”
By Sylviana Hamdani
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