City of Manila Travel Forum

I'm a resident of New York City, visiting Makati in May. I hear that Makati is a shopper's paradise, so I look forward to doing some serious shopping there.

I need men's wear clothing. Can you recommend some good stores selling cool men's fashion pieces at great prices? I am interested in local Filipino designers. In addition, if international labels like Armani, Calvin Klein, Zegna, etc. are available in Manila for a cost less than what they'd sell in New York, I'd like to know where I could find those items.

I need casual tops for the summer (short sleeves shirts, collared and buttoned-down, or polo-shirt style) and also some dress shirts to wear in the evenings.

Names of stores and locations in Makati near the Makati Shangri-la will help a lot. If there are any boutiques/ateliers outside Makati worth a special trip, I am open to those suggestions.

Thanks!!!

The Greenbelt malls in Ayala i think would be perfect for what you're looking for. They have Greenbelts 1 to 5, Greenbelt 5 being the newest addition to those posh shopping and dining grounds and they have a showcase of both local and foreign designer brands.. no idea how they compare to prices abroad though.

enjoy your stay!!

The Ayala Malls have most of the brands you mentioned and are accessible from your hotel so you can get most of what you need from there. Be sure to Visit Rustan's in Glorietta.

There are a couple of big malls around the Shangri-la, Glorietta and Greenbelt.

They only have Armani Exchange (I think) at the Glorietta, plus a few other men's clothing stores like Zara, Calvin, Esprit, and a few other US designers and tons of local brands - e.g. People are People, Human, mostly mid-range prices. Just walk around Glorietta.

There's a Paul Smith boutique near the lobby of Ascott. Check out Buffalo Jeans by David Bitton, too. They have great jeans, almost half the price less when you buy them at Bloomingdales.

If you want high-end, you may want to head over to Greenbelt 4 and 5. I'm not sure if Marc Jacobs is open though.

In Greenbelt, there are a couple of EU casual brands that I like and are not yet in the US: Springfield, Gas Jeans and Celio. of course, there's Diesel.

You may want to check out Rustan's Department Store or Marks and Spencer (although the latter is a bit more traditional/classic/older)

Hope that helps.

I suggest Rustan's in Makati located near Glorietta 4 mall. It houses almost all designer lines in one roof, international and local. Glorietta 5 has a wider range and more collections in their own stores, and a lot more walking :-)

a lot of the young local designers has opened their boutiques at greenbelt 5.

for ready to wear men's line - you can try Bench (all malls have this shop); Celio at Powerplant and Greenbelt 3