•Publication Date：10/29/2011
•Source： Taiwan Today
•By Michael Gooch
It is 7.30 on an Autumn Monday morning in Taipei and Huang Tien-yin, a PR manager with a political consultancy in the nation’s capital, is struggling to finish a 90-minute workout. Sweat streams down his brow as he squeezes out another set of 30 crunches on an abdominal bench in the musty, dimly-lit basement of World Gym Ximen, his goal of 200 nearly reached.
“There is no way I can hit the showers without finishing my ab work,” Huang said Oct. 24 between gulps of strawberry protein powder from an oversized water bottle. “If I want to look totally buffed in my bespoke Ermenegildo Zegna suits, I simply must peel another two inches off my waistline.”
Huang, 30, may sound like an upmarket cast member from hit MTV reality show “Jersey Shore,” but is in fact a self-professed metrosexual with no qualms admitting that his No.1 goal in life is to look his very best at all times while sporting the latest fashions and eye-catching accessories.
“I am not ashamed to admit that taking care of myself is a priority,” he said, pausing mid-sentence to admire his NT$3,000 (US$100) haircut in one of the numerous floor-to-ceiling mirrors lining the gym’s walls. “In my opinion, metrosexuals are the most confident, stylish and attractive of all men. We represent the future of Taiwan.”
Metrosexual, a term coined in the mid-1990s and championed by fingernail-painting, sarong-wearing and current L.A. Galaxy football player David Beckham, describes an urban male with a strong aesthetic sense who spends an enormous amount of time and money on his appearance and lifestyle. Other celebrity metrosexuals include actors Orlando Bloom, Hugh Jackman and Jude Law.
Declared extinct in many parts of the world as a result of the Great Recession and a shift toward old-fashioned masculine values, metrosexuality lives on in Taiwan, supported by a robust economy and media-driven obsession with self-image and lifestyle.
Advertising Svengalis are largely credited for this state of affairs, doing their best to scour away any hints of macho from products targeted at men. Testosterone-themed images that used to dominate promotions for beer, cars and sport have gone the way of the dodo. The name of the game now is about employing softer, more inclusive approaches in breaking down masculine codes and tapping new markets.
This process has seen the emergence of more men’s fashion stores and an increase in the number of department stores offering salon-style experiences for their male customers. Men’s magazines are boosting fashion and grooming content, and despite tightening budgets, advertisers are still beating a path to the doors of top-selling local titles such as Bang, Cool, Esquire, FHM, GQ, M’S and Men’s Uno.
Although metrosexuals are not exactly new kids on the blocks for Taiwan’s retail sector, companies such as Pacific Sogo Department Stores Co. Ltd. firmly believe they have grown to become a lucrative demographic and are here to stay. This year, Sogo has allocated greater funding to promoting male cosmetics and fragrances, with sales on track to reach 10-percent growth by the end of the year.
“More than a few men have always been interested in taking care of their appearances,” said Su Pao-hsiung, associate sales manager at Sogo’s Fuxing store in Taipei. “This number has steadily increased over the past 30 years as male consumers become more aware of their images.”
According to Su, men aged 25 to 50 years are Sogo’s biggest spenders. They have high incomes, show strong purchasing power and are aware of the latest products from America, Europe and Japan. He attributes this change to the runaway popularity of Japanese and South Korean films and television programs, which has prompted local men to look in the mirror and make larger investments in skin care and grooming products.
“An obsession with beauty may not be the healthiest for society in the long run, but for the cosmetics industry it is a godsend and definitely enticing more consumers to loosen their purse strings and buy products from the high-end brands.”
Clothing is another segment of Sogo’s business to experience a sprinkle of metrosexual stardust. The adoption by local men of more sophisticated Western styles with Asian overtones is being felt at the cash register, with sales increasing 15 percent year on year in 2010. A similar rise was chalked up for imported accessories such as cufflinks, briefcases and shoes.
“Our biggest movers are the internationally recognized brands,” Su said. “This is because men are making purchases with an eye to demonstrating their fashion sense and awareness. Quality is important but name recognition seems to be outstripping this consideration.”
Su said Sogo’s best-selling garments this season were imported slim-fit suits in the NT$24,000-NT$44,000 range. “We put this down to the staying power of metrosexuality, ROC centennial celebrations and a higher number of weddings than last year.”
For Lien Zong-wang, CEO of Deous International Co. Ltd., the rise and rise of metrosexuality in Taiwan is a welcome development that helps keep his thriving underwear and T-shirt business, Body Formula, in the black. Established in 2004, the company today operates two retail locations in Taipei, one in Taichung and an e-commerce website, going from strength to strength on the back of male spending for less obvious clothing needs.
“Seven years ago we sold underwear but now we sell fashion,” Lien said. “Men are taking better care of their bodies and want the right garments to show off their hard work in the gym. Appearance is very important.”
But even without greater adherence to concept of body beautiful by Taiwan’s males, Lien believes that the island’s underwear industry was always destined for change, especially given the impact of Calvin Klein underwear advertising in the 1980s and 1990s on local consumers.
Bold and provocative CK commercials featuring semi-naked celebrities in their underwear such as rapper-turned-actor Mark Wahlberg are often credited with giving birth to publicly acceptable male vanity. Women were gazing at his billboards and men were wondering if they could match it with the leader of the Funky Bunch in the sexy-cool stakes. The end result was a global explosion in demand for pricey undergarments that eventually made its way to Taiwan as well.
The manager of Body Formula Ximen, Wu Ding-guei, describes CK as a nice brand but one that does not really work for Asian men. “Our most popular products are from the Exponent and Toot lineups. Both hail from Japan and are hot ticket items with men aged 22 to 40,” he said.
Wu said the main reason these manufacturers are such a hit with his customers is that their products are made with the leaner Asian body shape in mind. “No one wants to spend good money on unflattering garments that look dull and uninviting. Firmer waistbands, shorter lengths, sexier lines and vivid color palates all combine to give the brands an edge.”
Echoing Wu’s remarks, Huang—a staunch Toot loyalist—believes designer underwear allows him to show off his physique and sends a strong message to men and women that he is a dedicated follower of fashion, irrespective of cost. “At a shade over NT$2,000, Toot comes in at almost twice the price of Exponent but is worth every dollar when you factor in the admiring glances and compliments,” he said.
Another hidden area that Taiwan’s metrosexuals are paying close attention to is the maintenance and control of body hair, said Chen Li-lan, a beautician at George Paris Hair Parlour in Tianmu, Taipei.
“More men are asking for their backs, chests, stomachs, arms and legs to be waxed; they want a clean look or are trying to appear younger.”
With her clientele comprising a cross-section of locals and foreigners, including bodybuilders, businessmen and office workers, Chen believes men are under greater pressure than ever before to take care of themselves. “This makes a nice reversal given the sacrifices women make in the name of beauty,” she said.
With nearly four years of waxing under his belt, Huang said the pain of having hair torn from his skin is yet to diminish but is preferable to letting his growth run wild. Recalling an overheard conversation between his ex-partner and a friend in which she described lying next to him in bed as something akin to “snuggling up to a dog,” Huang has a heavy emotional investment in cultivating a clean look.
“You can imagine how shocked I was to learn that my body hair caused offence,” he said. “For me, waxing is now nothing more than good grooming—I just want to have smooth skin and be physically attractive.”
Spending NT$4,000 every two months getting back, chest and stomach waxes in an effort to keep his “secret garden” at bay, Huang sees male hair removal and trimming as part and parcel of metrosexuality.
Ho Ting-ting, a private aesthetician, said metrosexuals are not dominating her client list yet, but there has been an uptick in the number of men requesting wax jobs for various parts of their bodies.
“I never used to wax any men, but it seems like Taiwanese are doing legs more often than before and foreigners all parts of their bodies. I am also starting to offer male Brazilian waxes.”
For those not quite up to speed in waxing lingo, a Brazilian in this instance is not someone from South America but a process in which all the hair from between the navel and tailbone is stripped away. Controversy rages in aesthetic circles over how much hair should be left behind but, for all intents and purposes, if one thinks the full monty, they are just about in the right neighborhood.
“I do three male Brazilian waxes a month,” Ho said. “They are regular clients whose girlfriends had it done and wanted to try as well. It looks very clean and tidy but is really painful.”
Although Huang has never entertained the thought of getting a Brazilian wax, he refuses to rule out the prospect in future. “For now, I feel that trimming is enough to take care of my needs but if my partner wanted something silkier, I would consider the request if it were on a quid pro quo basis.”
With the metrosexual alive and well in Taiwan, a growing legion of men like Huang are looking forward to receiving the lion’s share of attention from marketers and enjoying new products and services tailored to their needs.
“We are the ideal of the modern male and here to stay,” Huang said. “Men in Taiwan have been told for too long it is wrong to focus on their attractiveness and it is time for this to change.”
