Courtesy of Marsu Homme
Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
When it comes to shopping, the tendency is to think of women as the ones working the malls and running up credit card bills buying up everything in sight.
But companies have men in their sights too, with more stores targeting men, and more men's fashion and lifestyle magazines jostling for space on the shelves.
Surprisingly or not - and gender wars aside - men do need to be well-groomed in the metrosexual era, and, perhaps thanks to some clever marketing, feel they deserve to enjoy luxuries like women do.
So what is it that men are keen to open their wallets for? Those things that make them look and feel stylish and prestigious: Clothing, shoes, gadgets, cars.
Upscale department store Harvey Nichols Jakarta, for example, reveals what gets men handing over their gold credit cards at the store. According to Susanne Laible, the store's buying general manager, men go for brand-name clothing, shoes and accessories, with popular labels being Paul Smith, Givenchy, Alexander McQueen, Emporio Armani, Mulberry and True Religion - a penchant for fashion that shows how clothes shopping is no longer just a female activity.
When it comes to shopping, the tendency is to think of women as the ones working the malls and running up credit card bills buying up everything in sight.
But companies have men in their sights too, with more stores targeting men, and more men's fashion and lifestyle magazines jostling for space on the shelves.
Surprisingly or not - and gender wars aside - men do need to be well-groomed in the metrosexual era, and, perhaps thanks to some clever marketing, feel they deserve to enjoy luxuries like women do.
So what is it that men are keen to open their wallets for? Those things that make them look and feel stylish and prestigious: Clothing, shoes, gadgets, cars.
Upscale department store Harvey Nichols Jakarta, for example, reveals what gets men handing over their gold credit cards at the store. According to Susanne Laible, the store's buying general manager, men go for brand-name clothing, shoes and accessories, with popular labels being Paul Smith, Givenchy, Alexander McQueen, Emporio Armani, Mulberry and True Religion - a penchant for fashion that shows how clothes shopping is no longer just a female activity.