Cebu Isn’t Chasing Trends Anymore

by Eksa Jole

For years, if you wanted to know what Cebu was wearing, you checked out what Manila wore six months back. The nation’s capital got first dibs on every international fashion label, every runway echo, every desirable must-have item. Cebu got the delayed broadcast. That era is over, and the proof is in the pudding.

SM Seaside City Cebu opened in 2015 and currently stands as the largest mall in the city, roughly 470,000 square meters of gross floor area and 700+ retail stores under one circular roof. SM Seaside City is now anchored by a lineup of well-known fast-fashion brands right next to Filipino homegrown craft stores. This identity proved that the Cebuano shopper was discerning already years back.

SM Seaside City continues to redefine Cebu’s retail scene, bringing fashion, dining, entertainment, and lifestyle into one destination.

Now the city is doubling down, and this year, two brands proved the premise all at once. Love, Bonito arrived. The Singaporean womenswear label officially opened its first Cebu outlet at SM Seaside City this September. Cebuano shoppers no longer have to fly out to Manila for the signatures or the staples. Its arrival is part of a wave of first-in-the-Visayas brands like Bath & Body Works, Victoria’s Secret, Din Tai Fung, and Ramen Nagi. This is not a fashion brand quietly testing its market. This is an integration into a lifestyle ecosystem in a mall setting.

Love, Bonito’s whole proposition is “ready to live, not just ready to wear”: pieces polished enough for a business meeting, fabrics breathable and versatile enough to survive the demands of the day without any changes required in between stops. In a city where the culture is getting sharper, Love, Bonito offers the precise wardrobe logic which Cebu has been missing out on.

Singaporean fashion brand Love, Bonito officially opens its first store in the Visayas at SM Seaside City Cebu.

Love, Bonito Co-Founder Rachel Lim and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dione Song

Ling Belted Tailored Vest from Love, Bonito

Another example is POP MART‘s presence in The Gallery, Ayala Center Cebu. The pop-up branding centers on CryBaby, one of the brand’s flagship blind-box franchises, the same format that turned Labubu into a regional obsession and sent Philippine search interest for the category soaring in a matter of months. Retail culture and character-driven merchandise demand goes beyond Manila’s urban limits, and Cebu proves that point.

POP MART PH is now open at Ayala Center Cebu.

Now here’s the clincher: Ayala Malls Gatewalk opens in Mandaue in December this year, promising four levels in an area of 56,000 square meters and roughly 400 retail spaces. It is opening in December 2026 and will showcase IKEA. The location of IKEA Mandaue City will be the brand’s first store outside Metro Manila. IKEA Philippines Country Retail Manager Ricardo Pinheiro stresses that Cebu was chosen because of strong customer demand and Mandaue’s long-standing reputation as the country’s “furniture capital.” A global retail giant considered the city’s existing identity and built a business plan around it.

Ayala Malls Gatewalk is shaping up to be Mandaue’s next lifestyle destination, with IKEA set to open its first Cebu store within the development.

“Our decision is rooted in the need to be in the home-furnishing capital of the Philippines. We want to be surrounded by local expertise, manufacturing, and a thriving ecosystem of related businesses. This dynamic industry reflects the Cebuanos’ shared passion for interior design and their desire to create better, more inspiring lives at home.” -IKEA Philippines Country Retail Manager Ricardo Pinheiro

Ayala Malls Gatewalk, a 56,000-square-meter mall and lifestyle destination located within Ayala Land’s master-planned Gatewalk estate in Mandaue City.

The story is that Cebu has stopped asking for validation. The old model was the trickle-down retail inventory, the nation’s capital first and eventually Cebu. But now, a huge Swedish furniture giant is testing a store format at the year’s end, a Chinese collectible brand is calling it a “gateway,” and Southeast Asia’s huge womenswear label was recently launched in a mall’s prime estate. It’s out in the open, already proactive in the retail industry, right down to the shop floor.