Bench (Philippine clothing brand)
Philippine retail brand
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bench (stylized as bench/ or BENCH/) is a Philippine clothing and lifestyle brand owned by Suyen Corporation. They sell a range of clothing including casualwear, underwear, and sportswear, as well as bags, accessories, footwear, and fragrances.
_Logo.svg){kind=logo}
| Bench | |
|---|---|
| |
.jpg) A Bench store at SM City Cebu | |
| Product type | Apparel |
| Owner | Suyen Corporation |
| Country | Philippines |
| Introduced | August 3, 1987 |
| Markets | Asia, North America, Oceania |
| Website | shop |
History
Bench was established in 1987 by Ben Chan. Its first outlet was a small store selling men's T-shirts[1] in an outlet of the SM Department Store (now SM Store).[2] In 1991, Bench released its first television commercial featuring Filipino actor Richard Gomez as its endorser which set a standard on how the brand is promoted by its celebrity endorsers.[2]
The company has since grown to include a ladies' line, underwear, fragrances, housewares, snacks and other lifestyle products. Bench has expanded to overseas territories, including the United States, Middle East, China, Myanmar, and Singapore.[1]
In 2017, the first Bench Design Awards, a fashion design competition for young designers, was held.[3]
The first Bench Cafe, named after the clothing line, opened in January 2018.[4]
Marketing
Bench is known for utilizing celebrity endorsements acquiring the services of Filipino and international figures to promote the clothing brand.[5] In 1991, Bench released the television commercial Sculler which featured Richard Gomez rowing a boat which won best cinematography at the 12th Advertising Congress at the Araw Awards.[6][7] In 1995, Bench began referring to international figures for endorsement with Chinese-American VJ for Channel V.[8] In the COVID-19 pandemic period, Bench relied on Korean celebrities to take advantage of the popularity of Korean drama and K-pop.[5]