IF YOU WERE someone with a smidgen of fashion sense in the 1990s and the very early 2000s, you had at least three pieces in your closet from Marithé et François Girbaud. The name was too long for most people to bother saying so they would just call the brand by the last names of the French founders: Girbaud.

The brand has been very quiet for some time: WWD reports that it filed for bankruptcy in 2012. In 2015, however, it bounced back with Mad Lane, a pop-up concept selling clothes retailing for hundreds of euros. With the company’s resurgence comes a resurrection for its Philippine market as well, with more than 30 stores of the brand at present. A party to celebrate 25 years of Girbaud in the country, was held in Makati last month and revealed new stock and new plans for the brand.

BusinessWorld talked with Obee Ham, Business Development Head for Retail Dynamics, Inc., the group behind the Manila revival of Girbaud. “The Philippines is one of their biggest markets,” she noted, saying that in Asia, only the Philippines still has physical Girbaud stores. Retail Dynamics Inc., under Trimark, acquired the brand late last year, but people might still remember MFG Manille Inc., which held the franchise in 1993.

“It was true that for a time, Girbaud had been very much quiet. It was plateauing. It’s the same with a lot of brands — they go through a cycle, especially in fashion,” said Ms. Ham. “That’s why we had to do this, because we want to relaunch the brand.”

She continued, “Part of our relaunch and part of our redevelopment is actually to bring back the apparel,” she said, noting that previously, accessories had become more famous than the jeans the brand was known for.

The brand was born in 1972, set up by French stylists Marithé Bachellerie and François Girbaud. They hit some global fame by designing the costumes for the leads of 1980s hit movie Flashdance, and were known for commercializing the production of stonewashed jeans (before that the jeans used to be “destroyed” at home).

Now, since the brand’s resurgence in Europe, the pair have been experimenting with creating jeans using heat adhesion, laser blading, and ultrasound. (We asked to see samples, but those were unavailable during the launch).

“Our DNA is denim,” said Ms. Ham.

Items from Girbaud could cost up to the reasonable thousands, but the things we saw at Girbaud’s European website cost hundreds of euros. We asked Ms. Ham about that, who said that the expensive Mad Lane items will be made available at select stores.

Next year will also see more store openings, store renovations, and a new look for items: Ms. Ham noted a more streetsyle aesthetic to respond to trends for a younger market.

Some of the brand’s items would be from licensing deals (presumably bringing the price down), but a lot would still come from abroad. “They pretty much approve everything,” she said about the founding pair.

The pair already made their names, and already have a signature. Apparently, the signature this whole time was not stonewash, or baggy, or skintight, or anything you could see in the store. It’s the spirit of innovation that created those jeans in the first place. “It’s really how they continuously innovate, especially since they’re known for denim.” — JLG

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