A RARE KIND OF BOUTIQUE, IF YOU CAN FIND IT

When corporate executive Rica Lorenzo opened Idée a few years ago, the store carried clothes that were simple but well-made, in various silhouettes but in mostly neutral colors.

These days, stepping into the store feels wholly different. “It just naturally evolved, without me actually willing it,” Lorenzo says of the expansion of the Idée’s offerings, which now span clothes and locally designed accessories to hats and Italian-made handbags and scarves. Lorenzo is also the chairman and CEO of Lapanday Foods, which explains the somewhat concealed location of Idée: on the ground level of her company’s office along Chino Roces Avenue Extension (the gallery Silverlens, her sister Isa Lorenzo’s venture, is within the same compound).

Collaboration has always been part of the store’s DNA, beginning with a capsule collection with fashion designer Sofie Borromeo. The first non-clothing item Lorenzo introduced to clients were vegan leather shoes by the now Los Angeles-based Bianca Moran Mabanta of Susi Studio. Slowly, the store became known for carrying one-of-a-kind pieces from special collaborations with accessory designers such as Bea Valdes and, more recently, Mai Mai Cojuangco, whose handbag designs are brought to fruition in Italy by Florentine leather craftsmen. “It’s almost like things in the universe conspired to get me to meet somebody who offers me something—even if it’s just an idea or a prospect, and not an actual product,” Lorenzo explains. “Idée was never meant to be anything but fun. I put in what happens to come my way, if I like it.”

New to the store is an exclusive line by Elsa Pangilinan for Shape Shop, as well as an in-house label called Pinka Winka conceived by Lorenzo’s daughter, Cecilia Lorenzo Davila, whose additions to the store include a line of denim jackets embellished by hand. “I’d like Idée to be considered as a place to go when you want something different, when you want to express yourself with something new,” Lorenzo says. “So whether it’s a Pinka Winka jacket or a Joyce Makitalo necklace, the hope is that when you come to Idée, you’ll find something that perhaps fits the mood of the month for you.”
Idée is located at 2263 Chino Roces Avenue Extension, Makati.