Passion in fashion: Streetwear brand SKOOP makes waves
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Have you thought of turning your love of fashion into a career one day?
For two dream-chasers and business-minded people like Dominic Yu and Sharraine Murayama, owners of local clothing brand SKOOP, they knew from the start that it would take blood, sweat, and tears to reach where they are now in their small business.
Founded in 2017, SKOOP has become known as a lifestyle brand that creates trendy casual urban wear for individuals who prefer contemporary designs while highlighting the importance of individuality.
Yu, who is the head of logistics at SKOOP, said that the apparel brand has been heavily inspired by forward thinkers, culture drivers, fashion trends, modern art, design technology, latest music, pop culture and its subcultures.
“SKOOP picks up and incorporates these concepts while taking inspiration from what is already out there, and adding our own twist and flavor to it,” Yu told The Philippine Star.
SKOOP values the craft and creativity of every individual promoting self-expression through fashion, in all walks of life. It imbibes the Filipino value of hard-work and resilience, paired with the Japanese mindset of how aesthetics and form play an equal role with functionality.
“SKOOP works hard toward the ever-improving path of crafting and creating to make a difference in the world of streetwear,” Yu said. “This is how SKOOP was born Filipino, raised Japanese.”
The clothing brand’s fabric is locally produced and customized from scratch by Filipino fabric manufacturers. Its products are mostly offered as limited-editions.
“We believe creativity gives a competitive advantage by adding value to our products through every meaning behind it in every process, differentiating ourselves from the rest,” he said.
Aside from clothes, the fashion line also sells graphic stickers and reversible bucket hats. Its new collection, which is Home and Lifestyle, includes ceramic mugs, ring mugs, tin mugs and coasters.
Flagship store in Estancia Mall
Since August of this year, SKOOP has had a pop-up store at McKinley Hill in Taguig City, which has been a trial run for the opening of its flagship store this month, coinciding with the celebration of their fifth year anniversary in the business.
According to Yu, SKOOP’s flagship store will be launched at Estancia Mall in Pasig City on Dec. 10.
From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., shoppers can choose from its new exclusive-store collections: Retail Therapy, Happy Accidents and Home and Lifestyle. They can also expect performers such as renowned DJ HOEST and singer-rapper Curtismith during the event.
“Our flagship store is our way of giving back to the kommunity so they can have an interactive SKOOP experience. We want them to feel, see, smell, and know what SKOOP is like physically from the integration of our digital and physical journey,” Yu shared.
Innovation and collaboration
Innovation can add significant value to any business. That’s why SKOOP continually explores and creates custom-made silhouettes which are proprietary to the brand.
Recently, the five-year-old fashion line has been investing in fabric technologies, embroidered materials, printing techniques, and advance-focused designs.
SKOOP has been also partnering with different groups such as Krispy Kreme, Pokemon, and New Era University as collaboration has become a part of its strategy to expand its reach in the Philippines’ fashion industry.
Partnerships with other groups, the SKOOP official noted, do not only encourage them to think creatively and outside of the box, but also “how to position our brand based on the demands of the other brands.”
“We wanted to show that we are not fast fashion, we are setting the standards when it comes to the quality of our products—that we produce—standards that can compete with international brands with even the smallest details in our branding,” he said.
Timeless and relevant
The streetwear company, which is currently manned by 14 people, hopes to become a well-known international brand all over the world for the next years to come.
SKOOP plans to put up a store in the top three malls in the Philippines, Japan and other countries as well as in the most popular fashion capitals of the world such as in New York, London, Milan, and Paris.
“Our goal is to become an international brand with a higher brand perception and brand visibility. We wanted to extend our reach even further,” Yu emphasized.
“We want to continue raising the Philippine clothing standards by becoming a well-known international brand, not only in the Philippines, while being timeless and relevant,” he said.
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Editor’s Note: BrandedUp is designed to provide you with insightful, inspiring and educational content created by PhilSTAR L!fe in collaboration with brands like Skoop.
