A pair of heels is a must-have in every woman’s closet. However, in most cases, they compromise comfort for style; or find themselves bringing an extra bag for a pair of flat shoes to wear after a few hours of wearing heels.
As a brand that understands comfort, Bata, a global shoe brand which came in the Philippines last year, launched its newest collection, Bata Insolia, along with the grand opening of its third branch in SM Makati.
Bata Philippines country manager Rabi Hasnabi told some reporters during the opening, “Women are the ones who are suffering a lot when it comes to comfort in shoes. The idea of Bata Insolia is really for women, and to make them avoid this idea of choosing between comfort or or style.”
According to Hasnabi, Bata Insolia is a patented technology that distributes the weight of the body into the front and back of the feet by 50-50, hence making the shoes wearable three times longer than any other high-heeled shoes.
“Ladies, no more tiis-ganda,” Hasnabi jokingly added.
The collection comes in varied yet uncomplicated style. The pieces come in neutral colors that can easily be paired with office wear during the day or for stepping out at night.
Besides the must-buy Bata Insolia collection, other trendy pairs you can buy include sneakers with floral designs and glitters.
“Based on one of our studies, basically the median age of the Filipino market is 25 years old. Those customers are mainly looking out for not too much elegance and not too much casual so the sport casual shoes, although already a trend, will continue to be a trend here in the Philippines,” Hasnabi shared.
The brogue pairs both for men and women are also seen to last as a trend. These pairs, according to the country manager, are stylish, a bit more formal, yet are very comfortable, too.
Hasnabi also said to be on the look out as shoe lovers can expect new collections from their brand for every season.
“We are proud to say that we are one of the best to bring trends to the Philippines. We have 26 production facilities globally; also, our team of merchandisers go to shoe fairs and events, and we immediately understand what is the trend. We study our styles, and sometimes within 30 days, it is already out, ready for the market,” he said.
Now on their third branch in the country in less than a year, Bata Philippines is confident with its success in the local market like in any of their other branches in different parts of the world.
“Bata was born in 1894. We have more than 123 years of history. It was founded by the Bata family in Prague, Czech republic. Today, we have more than 5, 000 stores over 17 countries, and the company has been in the forefront of technology and design,” Hasnabi shared.
With such, Bata Philippines is poised to open more branches in Metro Manila, and eventually in nearby provinces.
“We have just been here last year of December, and we keep on opening stores because we feel that people are appreciating our products, our prices, and the quality of our shoes; and that gives us the confidence to keep going with the expansion,” the country manager said.
“We have a very ambitious expansion for this year: at least four to five stores for 2017, and other expansion plan for 2018. At the beginning, we will be focusing in Metro Manila but definitely, in partnership with SM, who has malls outside Metro Manila, we will also be targeting Cebu and Davao,” he added.
