Thursday 21 May 2009

Credit Control


Hong Kong's fashion fetish is obvious; we're definitely a designer-dud-dreaming, couture-clad mad generation (or wish to be). The laws imposed by the government should be damned, people will stand in over-crowded trains, and shove and jostle across a ridiculously packed border crossing to Shenzhen to get their hands on something that looks like it has been plucked straight off the pages of a magazine.

But there is a better way to satisfy the designer craving.

With Christmas soon upon us, there are some of the most coveted labels in town and there are things out there that are very affordable.

For the budget - and brand-conscious - shopper, there is a cornucopia of a recognisable knick-knacks to impress fussy loved ones.


Loco for Coco

Mabel Yeung, from Chanel, assures label-cravers there are trinkets in their five Hong Kong outlets that need not stretch one's credit card to snapping point. Accessories such as braclets, lockets, wrist and/or headbands or a toweling sports kit (all with the emblematic interlocking Cs) fall under $1,000.

For those who can stretch to a bit more, the square, ode-to-70s shades ($1,500) or the Coco-cool leather belt ($1,600) could put that extra twinkle in someone's eye this festive season.



Blanc & write

Inspired by the glow of animal eyes, Montblanc's jewelled pen - set in platinum, white gold and silver - gives the writing hand a look worthy of a Pulitzer, even if the written words fall short.

Here is an instrument that wants you to divorce the keyboard and find a thick sheet of creamy paper, immediately. True, it is a bit heavy on the wrist and on the wallet, but the gem of a pen is yours for $8,500 (the smaller version with gold Palmeira Citrine draws a fine line at $6,800). But rest assured that it is a gift that can last a lifetime, not just the current season.

For artists and architects, Montblanc's stocky Leonardo sketch pen ($1,500) will be handy tool. With a soft, 5.5mm thick lead that comes with a sharpened integrated head (there by keeping the tip perennially sharp), it carries the white star and gold-ringed signature look, and comes in an elegant leather pouch.

Be wise and organise


Running late yet again? Missed the flight? The deadline? The date? Do yourself or a friend a favour and get an organiser. If a digital, battery-operated gadget simply does not do it for you, perhaps you should check out Cartier's organiser collection.

These soft leather books are clad with precious metals, and there are over dozen styles available. The gilt-edged small pocket organiser ($1,250) of burgundy calfskin could easily substitute for a wallet - there is enough room for paperwork and pouches for credit-cards. The larger Pasha line ($1,250), black leather with a logo in 18-caret white gold, are for busier bees.

Black, white and red all over

Even if Madonna swears by rhinestone-studded belts with the large bull-and-horn centre clasps that are every bit as subtle as she is, rest assured it is just an evanescent trend being belted out by the effervescent diva. Nothing beats the old black classic, especially when it is by Armani. The slick strips of premium leather, with silver clasps, range from $890-$1,490.


Emporio Armani's Fall/Winter collection is a return to simple sophistication without a sparkle or vulgar colour in sight. For the ladies, a range of efficient, unassuming black purses is up for grabs at any of the four outlets in Hong Kong. Prices begin at $2,500 and end in five figure numerals. Thin is in (was it ever out?) when it comes to straps on sandals, bags or even watches. The winter look is all black and white--with flashes of red in belts, shoes (including men's) and purses. Even the jewellery collection is predominantly black. Earrings, simple string necklaces and other accessories range from $690-$1,400. Soft leather or suede gloves come in neoclassic shades of brown, black or white at $800-$900.



Cuddling up to the leather boys

The unmistakable look of Salvatore Ferragamo in shoes, bags, wallets and belts, made of premium leather, has stood the test of time and trend. However, for the impending season, new arrivals in their shops have a softer, cuter and cuddlier look. What can you get for the young or young-at-heart designer slave? The Ferragamo teddy bear, of course. Made of genuine silk, (in fact, they are made from signature scarves from this Florentine fashion house) teddy bears of both sexes (the gentleman bears sport bow-ties, while the lady bears wear bonnets) are already on display in Times Square, and soon every Ferragamo outlet will carry these distinctive designer bears.

They are not fuzzy and cartoonish creatures but brightly coloured, soft-touch accessories more suitable for decoration than being chewed and dribbled on by infants. While the multi-coloured scarves are perennially available (around $1,500 each) the bears are a seasonal specialty ($2,000). Accessories such as silver scarf rings ($700) and colour coordinated hair bands ($400) are also in the offing.

An oval idea

Legend has it that King Edward VII provided the phrase that helped launch an advertising campaign that money cannot buy: "Cartier, jeweller of Kings and King of jewellers." Stamped with their definite look, the company has maintained an unblemished standard since the mid-19th century. One of their most recognisable products in their signature lighter collection (originally introduced in 1968) and just in time for Christmas, a sparkling new selection has been released to style-seekers.


The oval shaped, invisibly-hinged lighters come in black with gold or platinum finish, as well as the standard monochromatic gold or platinum. Prices range from $1,950 to $2,400. They can be engraved upon request.

A crystal ball

As you watch Satine, the "Sparkling Diamond" in Moulin Rouge, trapeze down to the stage crooning "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" in one of cinema's glitziest entries, take note that she was in fact glittering in Swarovski crystals. Ditto Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina Fair and Grace Kelly in High Society.

With outlets scattered around town, Swarovski has already placed their Christmas collection on sale. The winter specials, such as the crystal Christmas tree, capped with a gold-plated star ($850), the reindeer ($1,275), angel ($1,460) or the little Santa ($1,960) are decorative pieces for the collectors. Their faux-diamond jewellery collection ranges from $450-$1,500. An earring and pendant set can easily fallunder $1,000, and the snowflake brooch, this season's main attractionss, is just $700.

Monday 18 May 2009

The King of Bling: Roberto Cavalli






The king of excess, success and sex-ess? Indubitably, Roberto Cavalli. The shock-jock of high-end fashion pulls no punches when he speaks about, well, everyone. He doesn’t like Kate Moss on the catwalk, thinks Madonna’s designs look like his, even he’s surprised when Anthony Hopkins says he likes Cavalli clothes – when clearly his men’s line is more for rockers like Lenny Kravitz. In a star-sprinkled conversation with P.Ramakrishnan, Cavalli’s Technicolor life unfurls.



“Yes, I think clothes should be sexy,” he admits without hesitation, his words shooting out at a press conference the day before I met Roberto Cavalli for an exclusive interview. “Because women are sexy. I make clothes for sexy women, so my clothes need to be sexy.”

Well, there isn’t much room for misinterpretation there as the man himself, like his excessively glamourous outfits, is as subtle as a brick. A sparkling, sequined, low-cut brick with animal imprints and crystals. Seated at the lounge of his suite, the king of glam-rock fashion is festooned by two impossibly chic women. Part body-guards, part assistant, part power-suit accessory, its never quiet established who they are and why they respond to certain questions addressed to Cavalli but as the interview progresses, one learns to go with the flow.

Recovering after an award show that clearly went on till the wee-hours of the morning, my Q&A with Cavalli started at the lounge of the Landmark Mandarin, went up to his cavernous suite, and back down again to the O Bar and then mulled around the streets of Central. The interview didn’t begin on time nor did it end as intended but like the force of nature that the subject matter is, I knew to, as mentioned earlier, go with the flow.


It’s hard to remember the exact year when the Florence-born Cavalli, 68, first hit the marquee with a bang. Poison-pens have inked that it took the tragic end of yet another Italian fashion icon, Gianni Versace, to let the spotlight shine brighter on this sartorial savant. Like Versace, Cavalli’s fondness for animal prints, sexually-charged campaigns with sultry models revealing dangerous curves, the razzle-dazzle element of shiny fabrics studded with sparkling stones and his proclivity with celebrities (Victoria Beckham, Christina Aguilera, Shakira, Lenny Kravitz, Michael Jackson) is a formula that’s been resoundingly successful. Fashion is ephemeral and designers are a dime-a-dozen. The real achievement is staying on top of the game and staying relevant; which Cavalli unquestionably is.

Like many a legend one sees filtered by the glossy sheen of fame, meeting the person takes a little away from the persona. Cavalli is much shorter in person, more salt than pepper haired, has a leathery tan that’s not as obvious in the soft-focus portrait shots sent out by his company. The raspy gravel of his voice doesn’t erode his smooth charms – which are copious and threatens to spill at any given moment in his rich Italian inflected English. A life bejeweled with fame, celebrity, world-travel, coated with kisses from supermodels and starlets, his multi-hued boat where he hosts his uber parties, his palazzo that’s host to Oscar and Grammy winners, he has all the accouterments of a global celebrity.

I’ve read so much about Cavalli and seen him in so many television shows, the sudden shock of being introduced to him leaves me speechless. Unsure where to begin, I simply ask;

You’ve been to Hong Kong before?
I was here many, many years ago. Perhaps, over 20 years ago. I love the energy of Hong Kong, it’s a city full of energy. The people are, I believe, a positive people. Everyone’s running, I feel that everyone’s dreaming, dreaming of success. Compared with Italy, sometimes you can see that on the street people are dreaming too. But in Hong Kong, it’s a different way to dream. The people here are dreaming to the future. They are thinking too much of the past in Italy.

What’s brought on this sudden visit to Hong Kong?
I’ve been planning to come for many years and we have finally come out to visit and release a new accessory line in Asia. I’m sure you will see this city is a fantastic market. Asia is the future of the world. China is the future of the world and Hong Kong is the trampoline!

You’ve worked with many Asian stars too – even before it became fashionable to do so in Hollywood, in the West.

For many years I’ve been friends with Michelle [Yeoh]. I think she represents my fashion very well. Because she’s a very good actress, she’s sexy, she’s sexual, she’s fashion, she’s beautiful. Unfortunately, I don’t come to Hong Kong often before but I promise you, now I will come to Hong Kong three or four times a year. When I walk around Central, I get to see and know a little bit of the people. I like the people, I like how they dance, I like how they walk, I like how they dress.

He suddenly turns around and counter questions, “Do you know my restaurant Just Cavalli?”

Um… No.

You know Just Cavalli, it is one of the most fantastic restaurants in the world and I’m not just saying that because its mine! It’s a very unusual, unbelievable restaurant, and it’s a discotheque on Friday and Saturday, the other days, its just a restaurant. And everyone in the world, they want me to open my restaurant in their country. Yesterday, I decided that I want to make a Just Cavalli restaurant in Hong Kong. Really. Here is the only place that I have thought to make it. Hong Kong has the “it” factor.

You sell and make fantasies. The merchant of dreams said a fashion rag of you. Do you agree with that tag attached with your name?
First, my dream is something to do different from all other designers. Since the beginning. I wanted my fashion to be something that in the moment that you see my clothes, you can tell immediately that its a Roberto Cavalli.

Today its more difficult, because everybody’s too much! (He laughs a raspy laugh). Everybody - they know too much of fashion. Too many magazines talk about fashion. I tried to create my brand to be young and sexy. Especially the young they know so much about fashion. They know what they like. It isn’t easy being a dreamer today.

Your early days were filled with hardship, in stark contrast to your life now, you’re life makes for an epic rags-to-riches novel. Did the initial difficulties inspire your career now?
Absolutely. I worked hard. The most important thing is to wish strongly to be better. When I speak to the young, I tell them that. I believe that if somebody believe strongly in anything, he can realise any dream, whatever he want. My grandfather was an artist. I started to paint first to make money and in the beginning people liked my work. The shirt and t-shirts I would paint on and people would ask for one, then two. Then someone wanted a few thousand t-shirts! I’d run out of prints. Slowly I was printing by myself! I was learning. I started to make my first creations then. My first fashions show was in Paris in 1970. I started to work by making thousands of prints. But I was just one man.

And now an empire! There’s never been a pastel shade in your shop. What brought on this romance with colour?
In monochrome, I’ve designed outfits but I tend to be colourful and positive – and I wear positive. Colour is positivism, my clothes, whether they are all black, I want them to be positive.

When the Kate Moss scandal first broke, as brands dropped her left, right and centre, you spoke in her favour and you’ve worked with her in campaigns since.
Yeah. I did. Yes, I was a friend. My friend, in my opinion when the story of Kate Moss came out, it was too much. Too much attention, too many tabloids. In my opinion, too many people spoke against her.

She lost a lot of valuable endorsements.
That was silly. After many options, I choose her because she’s professional. She’s very professional. She’s really one of the best photo models. That is the most important. She’s a photo model. I don’t like her in the runway, on the catwalk, she’s too small, she’s pretty but I choose her for the photo model. In her private life, she can do what she likes, in my pictures, as long as she looks great, I don’t care – and she looks great.

She’s not the most popular celebrity in the world and often ridiculed in the British press but you’ve always stuck by Victoria Beckham. She even models for you. Why her, why not someone classically beautiful or unquestionably popular?
She’s nice. Because I like her obviously I chose her. Sometimes, people are against her, talk badly about her. She looks very simple, but Victoria is not. She’s very strong. I don’t want to tell you that she’s very simple… because she’s not that either, but she’s more simple than what people think about her. Absolutely, its very important that I have to really like her as a person. Tara Reid – people in America don’t love her but I like her. Sweet girl, so I send her Cavalli outfits.

You’ve created outfits for the red carpet – both the Oscars and the Grammy award shows. What’s a bigger challenge?
I prefer the Grammy. Honestly. First the cause - it’s the music world. The singer, they are more interesting, a little bit more personality. Also the Oscar, its not 100 percent as I like, its too much competition between all the designers. Who to dress, how to dress. I know many designers pay the stylists. Its too much business, its not real any more. When one actress or actor wears a Cavalli outfit, he’s really wearing an outfit because he or she likes the outfit – not because of a business deal.

Lenny Kravitz, the Jacksons, rock stars, they all wear Cavalli and there’s that undeniable link to rock glam. And then someone like Academy award winner Sir Anthony Hopkins says he loves your clothes. Isn’t that a surprise? He’s such a serious British thespian...
Anthony Hopkins? (Laughs that raspy laugh again). How you know about him? Anthony Hopkins said he liked my clothes because he’s a very good friend of mine. I met him now so many years ago, 6, 7, 8… in Florence. When he was making Hannibal. When he shot the movie there in Florence, he used to be with me all the time for dinner and parties. Director Ridley Scott and I are great friends and Tony was a good friend of Ridley. Anthony came with him to our house, very early in the morning. In our house, in our gym, he would work out. That’s how close we are. Him or an even an actress like Emma Thompson, or someone like Beyonce, the most different people, wear Roberto Cavalli. Its the woman, the man, the spirit of who wears it that matters.

Why the preference to animal and leopard prints?
Because its natural, because I like nature. With the snake, with a real bird, with a tiger.. nature is fantastic. Every woman likes to be a little feline, she likes to be wild and be soft at the same time. They love to be a tiger and cat at the same time. Maybe that is the reason I appreciate women very much. I was in metropolitan museum last year, for a fashion exhibition and I saw this dress with a leopard print made from 300 years ago! I knew I got it right eh?

What’s going to be the signature look for your coming season?
White colour for summer. A totally different print. The white colour means a lot to the black colour. Because I like the combination white with a little print, with a little black, the main colour scheme for the new year will be white. White with other colours. White with floral print. Leopard or snake, its animalier.

What do you think of Madonna’s attempts at designing?
I don’t see it. All I saw was one of the dresses… it looks like very much like… Cavalli style!

Everyone in the room bursts out laughing with Cavalli.

I don’t know. It’s like one day I start to sing all of a sudden – does that make me a good singer? I don’t think I could be a good singer. I don’t think that Madonna she could be a good designer. Its just my opinion. I believe that everybody should do what they are able to do! I don’t want to sing. I don’t want to do anything else. My work is fashion and Madonna and many other people should do what they are able to do.



Roberto Cavalli outfits are available at The Swank.

From Bags to Riches: Anya Hindmarch

Logo embossed luxury brand bags had monopolised the must-have accessory market for decades. The interlocking alphabets, the embosses emblems... you know the one's I'm talking about but am refraining from listing (they do advertise with us - bless them!). Somehow, out of the blue, Anya Hindmarch’s trademark bags quietly became the mother of all must-have trinkets over the last four years. 

Adding to the sky-high list of collector’s items, now there’s the little amenities kit Hindmarch designed for British Airways. Who would have thought a case holding toothpaste, lip balm and toiletries would be the hottest cake in a designer oven? P Ramakrishnan was in conversation with a designer dream. And yes, its an exclusive chat. 

It's funny that in a row of cookie cutter houses in the heart of London resides one of England’s most celebrated and unique designers who single-handedly created a mini-revolution with her brilliant 'Be a Bag' idea. Customised bags with personal pictures, each exclusive to its owner, was the rage in 2001 – and continues to be that one little idea that could! 

Catapulting her to the fashion world orbit, Hindmarch has morphed from a surname to the most identifiable emblem that dots 30 stores around the planet, Hong Kong included. When British Airways asked her to come up with a design and concept for the amenities kit for their first-class passengers, she didn’t just create one device for all flights, for every flier. With its inimitable style, size and shape, the disparate bags are yet again a must-have item and people are in fact trying to collect every kind, of every design this working mom-of-five has created over the years! 

With some dubious sales on eBay (with figures escalating weekly!), urgent requests and pleas on ground staff at BA, does she know what she’s gone and created? When told, a laughter erupts and says, “It was a crazy but great idea that I’m glad worked.” As we chat in the mezzanine floor of her plush living room, decorated with incredible black and white pictures of her bountiful and beautiful family, 

Hindmarch seems to be juggling home and hearth with ease. In the fastest interview conducted on record for this magazine, the multi-tasker/juggler, with hands in multiple-pies spills her design secrets. Well, some of them... 

“BA approached me as they were looking for someone to come up with an idea for an amenities kit… because... well, because I was British and I do bags!” she reasons, a gush of words that spill our very rapidly on tape. 

She neatly sets aside the fact that she had won, that same year, the Best British Accessories Designer of the Year award by the British Fashion Council. Coincidence? Hardly. “They approached me, they were looking for someone to design something different. Actually, it was a really fun project. Not only was it designing a bag, but also designing the concept of the idea, which is that it changes regularly by design and I knew what I wanted to put in flights, what I didn’t want. I was very clear about it because, when you’re on a plane, you’re out of control, you can’t really have all the things you want so its nice to have really nice things, have the sort of things you would have at home, really good quality items that would enhance the travel experience.” 

As the signature airline and designer accessory is categorically a collector’s item, we wonder if her cupboards house each of her own creations. With a smile, she says, “I do have one of each in cupboards, but its annoying because my children pilfer from them so I don’t have the complete bags with everything in it, but one of each design!” 

Did you have any idea that your bags, the Be a Bag concept in particular, would become such a rage from New York to New Delhi? Visible in Central London, to Central, Hong Kong? 

“It was one of those crazy ideas that worked, and I’m really glad it did because there’s a charitable element with it (Be A Bag has raised money for more than twenty charities around the world). Privatisation is key, I love things that are just mine. If you have something that’s specially made just for you, then it feels like real luxury.” 

“We’re translating that to another concept where you, in a bag, you have inside the bag a message in your own handwriting that’s sewn into the leather, like a secret message inside. We’ve had children write a lot of really fun texts and messages and drawings. And on the box you have your name written on it. I think there’s always something about exclusivity, personalised things that will have a market. No, I didn’t quite predict the extent of it but I knew when I saw them, that this would be something I’d want – so why wouldn’t others?” 

With five kids, a cottage industry that’s now considerably more than a “cottage”, with, in addition to the travel kits, there are shoes, the hand embroidered kaftans, bikinis and baskets for mothers and daughters… How she finds time to eat, sleep and drink seems dubious. Magic potions and sorcery?

“Well, its about great help and great team around you. Lots of people are working around who need me," she says with a smile and a polite nod towards her assistant who seems to stand guard against the media onslaught from Hong Kong as we take up a lot of room in her plush home. "Hopefully, they need me. Nothing like five children at home to make it seem like you're the least important person in the room!” 

She laughs as her assistants [plural!] and kids seem to be bodies in constant rest and motion throughout the multi-floored home. “You’ve got to write lists and be organised and there’s time management and its hard work. And you have to have a little bit of humour about it, because when you have all that much going on, you can’t be a perfectionist about every aspect of every single thing. My work place is just five minutes away so either I’m there or here, and devote myself to those places.” 

When you sit at your drawing board or while making those copious lists and ideas, who are you designing things for? “I design for women who are quite similar to me, they might work, they might have children, they might travel a lot. There are different pressures and pleasures. But I do think, that’s sort of a woman’s life; you handle it.” 

There is a fashion flock mentality in certain circles where when one person gets something, everyone in that circle must get the same. Blindly following trends. That’s completely antithetical to her concept she says, “I think there’s nothing worse than a woman that’s head to toe in a look, and that’s really annoying. When everyone’s the same, has the same things. And it’s a bit less than special. Hong Kong women dress so well and they always look amazing and I think they are smart dressers unlike other countries where they might be a little less sophisticated. Adhering to fickle trends and not creating their own statements.” 

“The fashion market in Hong Kong, well, the way I’ve seen it is that they are generally more slight women so a great big bag perhaps wouldn’t do as well there. There’s that world-traveled elegance to the women in Hong Kong and they’re always immaculately put together. English girls are a bit more flea market and unpolished shoes and that retro look... Hong Kong girls are more polished. If you can say that Hong Kong girls aren’t funky, I suppose one can turn around and say the English girls can be a bit dirty!” 

Though one can recognise an original Hindmarch a mile away, the brand itself is subtle, devoid of “bling” and loud logos and in-your-face marketing. “I don’t think I’d want something that had a massive statement on it. I think branding is important and even I might see the value in something, a particular brand and I might be attracted to it but something that’s too obvious for me would be horrible. We’re not an over advertised brand.” 

Does the nefarious head of the fake industry bother her? “Its frustrating obviously when people copy but I think its inevitable," she says in that ever pragmatic English accent. "But we change our brand and design every six months. More frequently on some items so it doesn’t affect our business as much but its annoying because copying is so much easier than the original work I do. And you get bored of the design if you see it everywhere, if the fakes are floating all around you, instead of the actual bag that you’ve worked on - that is frustrating.” 

As we make our way down a narrow flight of stairs, she tells us about her impending trip to Hong Kong for a shop opening at IFC, not far from Harvey Nichols in Hong Kong. As we stand outside and look up at a clear-blue sky, I ask one final question. Tell us about your favourite things about London. 

“Well, my least favourite would be the rain. I can say that quickly. But we have been enjoying a spell of grand weather," she says, squinting her eye at the sun. "My most favourite thing about London is that its an incredibly cosmopolitan city. You can do anything, eat anything, meet anyone, its multi-racial, huge and diverse and it’s a great city. I just love it, I love the people, you have the green as well as the big city feel." 

"I love New York but I miss the green of London and really, there’s nothing quite like home.”


--

Table of Contents: 

Features Editor P.Ramakrishnan was invited to the private confines of designer Anya Hindmarch's home one sultry afternoon in London. For this special edition of the magazine - Best of British - he chats with the working oh-so-glamorous mum and designer.   

Monday 11 May 2009

The Lady at Lanvin: A Rare Interview with Madam Shaw Lan Wang



In the Forbes list as one of the richest women in Asia, if not the world, Madam Shaw Lan Wang’s persona precedes the person. P. Ramakrishnan was the only journalist in Hong Kong granted a one-on-one interview with the reclusive Madam Wang, owner of the iconic French couturier, Lanvin. She was only too happy to shed the Euro-media illusions in this exclusive interview as she clears up urban myth with a reality check.



Minutes before the burgundy velvet curtains part, a benign hush filters conversation at the grand opening of one of Lanvin’s biggest flagship stores. The fall/winter line is about to strut out in style and stilettos, as dozens of models swish down the catwalk showcasing 40 designs of Alber Elbaz, the Casablanca born Israeli, known the world over as the resident designer of Lanvin.

All in the know knew that Elbaz was still in Paris, but high praise and great press reports of his latest collection landed in Hong Kong, even if he didn’t. Over the last two years, sales of Lanvin’s ready-to-wear touched figures of about US$100 million, and the number of retailers selling Lanvin more than tripled, from 20 to 70 around the globe.

Elbaz received patronage from two curmudgeonly panels; European press and the French buyers. And let’s not forget that this is the brand that style icon Kate Moss sports, without an air-kissed sponsorship to do so.

So of course the air was ripe with expectation but oddly enough, it wasn’t just for the clothes that had French editors raving. It was for a true blue media baroness and recluse, who was attending the event… or so the congregation of fashion followers were told.

“Madam Wang will open the ceremony. And Yes she is flying in from Paris. No, we don’t know if the flight was on time. And she won’t be meeting the press just yet. No, no one’s seen her yet. No interviews! Yes, Linda says she saw her in Shanghai last year. No, she isn’t sure if it’s the same person...”

The overheard dialogues were boggling but such is the legend of Madam Wang that even the most jaded purveyor of society and fashion would raise a sculpted eyebrow.

Will the fine feathered and coiffed get to meet and shake her manicured hand? The hand the rocked the industry when she took over the oldest French couture house (founded in 1889 by Jeanne Lanvin) in an unexpected, unprecedented corporate change of guard in 2001.
Well past the appointed hour, as the curtains part, a collective gasp detonates. A host of penguin suits appear and in the midst of men, a slight, sixty-something Chinese lady, dressed in an impeccable blue cheongsam, studded with beads, collared with diamonds takes centre stage. She welcomes and smiles at the crowd, and moves aside as a parade of models pony-trot down the catwalk.

The mall is peppered with security as the crème de la crème of society solemnly watch the makeshift stage that spilled out of the boutique, encroaching every visible inch of space at IFC, the newly anointed “it” place in Hong Kong that houses the toniest brands on the planet.

The usual cocktail of the famed and fortuned mill the room, with their fingers wrapped in champagne flutes as they try to get up close and personal with Madam Wang as the show closes to warm applause.

In an exclusive tête-à-tête with the head of the billion-dollar company, we meet in person, late that same Friday night, at her suite, surrounded and guarded with company heads and PR reps, fawning around one of the richest women in Asia. By the time the photographer’s set up lighting, it’s close to 1:00am.

In a jovial mood after an evening that has obviously gone well, when asked if she’s wearing Lanvin, she laughs and says, “No! I am Chinese. I only wear Chinese outfit. But it’s in the style of Lanvin!”

“See this…”, she says pointing to the hem of her outfit, as soft tufts of fabric, seemingly unfinished, glisten as the studded beads catch the night light. “My seamstress says, ‘No madam, it’s not finished. I can’t work like this!’ But that’s the style! It looks like its not done, but it is. For the past 42 years, always the same style – if you travel around Europe you’ll see many Japanese shoppers and they change fashion according to the country. Not me. My style is Chinese, always.”

When you first acquired Lanvin, it wasn’t doing well…

“Who says?” she interjects, smarting at the comment.

Media reports were rampant in the early years of the decade of spiraling costs and recoiling profits.

“No. Lanvin belonged to the richest woman in the world,” she says as she arches her back on the sofa. “A big, rich family. The company has never suffered as it is reported.”

For the record, according to reports, in 1990, the cosmetic giant L'Oreal acquired the house of Lanvin, which invited the likes of Claude Montana, Giorgio Armani, Christina Ortiz and ex-Versace designer Ocimar Versolato to work with or for the brand (while sustaining their own labels).

Though it did well, it was never mentioned in the same breath as other French icons that dominate the luxury brand arena. The press said the company never had a unifying vision of its products. In August 2001, an investor group led by Shaw Lan Wang (aka Madam Wang), known then only as “the Taiwanese media baroness”, took over the house of Lanvin. She handpicked Albaz as the creative director and since his fall line unfurled on the catwalk exactly four years ago, the company has morphed from a simmering trend to a formidable force.
“We were there at the right time, right place,” she asserts, without going into specifics. Then, recounting the history of the procuring the Parisian brand, she leans back a bit on her lush sofa and says, “I’ve been asked that question [about how Lanvin was purchased] by everyone. You know in Chinese, the proverb says, when you are doing good to people, good things will return to you. Somebody else wanted to buy Lanvin. They negotiated for quite a long time. And the French people, they are a special character. When they don’t want, they don’t want. You are rich or not, they don’t care. So these friends of mine, cannot negotiate with L’Oreal.”

“But I have a lot of reputation with people and they all know me in France. I speak good French, better than English you see? So people ask, whether I can negotiate for them, so I said ok. So this continues, and continues. So the moment we have to sign, this friend says… I don’t want it anymore!”

Taking a pause, Madam Wang unclasps her palms and throws them in the air and continues, “It wasn’t my idea originally to buy Lanvin, but at that moment, what can you do? Cry? Chinese don’t cry. Loss of face. I would lose face. He would lose face. Crying is no use. No, I cannot do that. So I continue. Then I continued as if nothing happened, that’s the history.”

Not even founder Jeanne Lanvin, who was heavily influenced by orientalism in 1914 and introduced Eastern-style satins and velvets in Chemise dresses to Paris, could have predicted that an Asian baroness would herald the company in the following millennium.

When asked to explain why the French were willing to sit across the table with her, and not with the other people, she explains, “You know French people have a lot of confidence. I have a lot of friends in France. Politically, they may be right side or left side, I don’t care. If they are good French, then they are all my friends! If I don’t like this guy, even if he’s the president, then bye-bye!”

“So they know my character. They know how I am. See I was negotiating for another person but at that moment, I had to take it in my shoulder.”

It hasn’t been a smooth transition and as Le Monde reports, the house let go 65 employees and exited the perfume and watch businesses in an effort to stem heavy losses, which had mounted to 22 million euros on sales of 79.3 million euros in 2003. Did the thought of bringing down the shutters cross her mind, during the ebbs of the business cycle?

“No. there was never a time, when I thought I would leave the company,” she responds. Her two manicured fingers make a circle in the air and she simply says, “Face.”

“Because of me, they give me Lanvin, I cannot destroy Lanvin. It was like a mission, like a responsibility to keep Lanvin alive. Later, I have another motivation. This is the first time I show it to anyone… even to you,” she says looking at the general manager in charge of the Hong Kong division seated across her. Thumbing through her purse, she digs out sheaths of paper, wrapped inside are pictures of a baby girl.

“See… is cute huh? Wait, wait, wait, but she looks like a boy there huh?” she says, smiling incessantly as sheaths of photographs emerge from the proud grandmother’s copious purse.

“See, when she was one-and-a-half, she was already on the podium, for another show, for an Italian fashion for charity, for a children’s fashion brand. In French, girl is “fille” and I call her Fi-fi. She was the small mannequin for the catalogue… obviously she was preparing for Lanvin!”

Laughter rings around the room as pictures pass through various hands. “Later, I tell Alber, make clothes for children - hurry up! She’s growing up. I need you to prepare Lanvin for her. But she’s growing up so fast, he said to me, “Not children’s wear, I’ll prepare Lanvin for teenagers.”

Legend has it that a simple five-minute phone conversation was enough to secure him as the head designer for the company - without even meeting Elbaz in person or seeing his work!

“No, that’s not exactly true,” she yet again corrects one of the many misconceptions floating around the media about the company and about her. “I received a phone-call and I thought, how can he reach me? He’s never seen me, I’ve never seen him – how did he get me on the phone?! He wanted to have an appointment with me. I was in St Tropez at that time. I went back to Paris, I met him the second day. Just looked at him for the first time. And I don’t know him. And I had never heard of his name at all. I saw his press book and at that time, I had already seen hundreds of pictures from other designers. But from the few pictures I saw of his, I knew. This was it. The lines were really simple. Special. The material has a special cutting. We were talking for about 10 minutes… he says 6 minutes, I say 10!”

More laughs. Shaking her head with a surreptitious smile, she exclaims, “Then I asked, will you agree to work with me? Done.”

That blind faith in a designer she knew nothing of, clearly paid off. “I never see a design. Every time we are in a fashion show, I keep a straight face because I have never seen it before! His studio is on the same building – we’re on the second floor, his studio is on the sixth. When it’s almost finished, I just go up and say, “Hiiiiii Alber, How are youuuuuu?” (she says extending the vowels in a sing-song voice). I see a bit. I have never disagreed or disliked his work. Admiration. Only admiration.”

Elbaz, the mysterious and talented man she met was in fact, at that time, splashed across the tabloids for his tumultuous time and exit with YSL. Trained by the late and legendary Geoffrey Beene, Elbaz was recruited to head Guy Laroche in 1996. He has often said that working at his former employ was intimidating, and as the company grew and as Tom Ford and Domenico de Sole came in, well, there were too many men with too many needles and threads making the same outfit! The hasty exit was fodder, lapped up by the press.

Elbaz once commented in the print that Lanvin saved him and Madam Wang jumps in his court, “He is too modest. No, that’s not true. He needed a job, he wanted a job that he loves. A house. Where he would feel at home, not just make money but feel loved. He was a great talent and we needed him as much as he needed us.”

Glamourous as it may be, the cloak and hanger industry is a business that needs to see profits at the end of the day. “But that is the nature of business. Even an artist or a painter has to survive right? We both [Elbaz and Wang] look at the figures, the sales. He passes the boutique everyday and takes a look and asks the chief, which is selling good, what you sell well. Also he looks at the records. I don’t know if other brands encourage that but we do. Alber, he has his artistic character, but he also has a good business mind.”

The warmth and affection she has for her head designer is palpable as she repeats a conversation from her office, “Our director of human resources says to me, ‘Madam, you are against the law!’

‘What happened’ I ask?

‘They all are working too much. They pass already 80 hours! If you pass 54 hours a month, you have to go to jail!

French law, French system, French politics! Humph! Two days later, I told Albaz, ‘Prepare earlier for the shows, otherwise they pass 55 hours and I have to go to jail!’

And he says, “Madam. Don’t worry. If you go to jail, I take my design board and I go to jail with you! You can take a rest. And I still continue my work. But French people can’t understand that!”

Needless to say working conditions are very different in the two countries Madam Wang calls home as she shuttles between France and Taiwan, spending months on end in each continent. “In July, August, its vacation time in France - we close! Would that happen in Hong Kong? Two months nobody work? We have a few people in the office but they can’t work because it’s fashion and it is team work. French politics and French system is very difficult!”

She throws her hands in the air, bemused and amused by the practice. Though it may seem like the designer and the owner are completely in sync, there is but one difference, concludes Madam Wang, “Alber, he wants to make women beautiful and happy. I only want one thing; I want the company to be great. That is the only plan I have. Greatness.”


Image courtesy of Hong Kong-based photographer William Furniss.

Monday 4 May 2009

Romantic vision with a firm grasp on reality


Not all poets are dewy-eyed dreamers, as Mani Rao proves. P.Ramakrishnan reports. Picture by Oliver Tsang.

If not a schizophrenic in the psychological sense, Mani Rao must be a social split personality – two separate identities, the poet and the realist, wrapped neatly in her trademark crew cut and label-lacking suit.

“People walking around, advertising brands, she scoffs. When I see labels on my clothes, I sit and peel them off.”

During dinner, at Centrals Veda restaurant, an acquaintance drops a fork in her vindaloo on learning that Raos sixth book, echolocation, is out on Wednesday. “We’ve met so many times, I never knew. A poet … a real one?” Well, yes.

The lounge lizards at the Fringe bar have a few misguided clues to her day job. Shes on TV, Cable, right?” Well, not quite. Rao is senior vice-president of marketing communications for StarTV. But to Hong Kong’s literati she is one of the finer “real poets in residence.

But she punctures romantic notions of poetry. “The aura of a published writer is imagined and has more to do with perception than reality,” she says. “Because a writer is published is no reason to be impressed. A publisher may be quite capable of embracing mediocrity. A timeless work may not find a publisher, and may have to be self-published.

“The real aura of a good writer is based on vision, depth, intensity, a sustained creativity, an identity and craftsmanship. With this they may attract readers beyond their mum and dad.”

Laced with humour, stark minimalism and pithy prose, Rao’s collection of 33 poems comes with an un-Mani, flashy, silver jacket.

“It was my designer’s idea to express the concept of the title, echolocation, that navigation in sonar is based on reflection,” says Rao. I liked it because of the idea, and my publisher liked it because it made the book special, suitable for a gift.” A gift that has “the smell of death” on its pages. The untitled poems carry one of her recurrent, sometimes morbid themes: life and death.

“Yes, the theme (of death) runs through all my work. Dying is, in a way, the ultimate expression of life. The transition from composition – poetry – into decomposition. As a subject it is rich – it spans fascination and fear, romance and revulsion. It’s unknown and yet so commonplace and certain, and the companion to birth.

In a city where every minute and every dollar is thought to count, is poetry just an unworkable hobby for a small enclave of English grads misquoting Keats? “The barrage of visual expression and impression has substituted the reading habit, but I don’t think that is a bad thing in itself, as long as one is not anaethetised (by electronic media) but able to engage in it.

“Are you sure writers are a small circle? There seem to be so many writers and poets around these days – sometimes more than the audience there is to read them.”

Echolocation will be previewed at the Fringe Club, 2 Lower Albert Road, Central, Sep 3, 2003 8 pm. Inquiries 2521 7251.

South China Morning Post
31 August 2003

Plan ahead to enjoy your sunset years

Former top businessman Chung Po-yang says it is essential to find purpose in life after retirement, writes P Ramakrishnan.

A few years before his death at the age of 85 in 2001, noted British sociologist Peter Laslett, proposed a theory of how people should define their lives.

He posited that the first age is one of immaturity, education, dependence, as experienced by children. In time, they develop and progress to the second age, when the children mature to become adults who take up full-time jobs and parental responsibility.

After a lifetime of productive contribution to society, they reach the third age. There are no clear boundaries defining when it begins, but the term has generally been used to denote a period when people are in retirement, when their active career and parenting ends and they become free to pursue their personal fulfillment without the pressures imposed by work and family responsibilities.

It has been described as the age with the greatest freedom but ends, however, with the onset of illness and terminal decline, with a drifting into the fourth age before death.

In Hong Kong, much attention on ageing has rested on its effects on productivity which, combined with one of the world's lowest birth rates, is projected to put a squeeze on the size of its readily available workforce.

But there is also a dawning concern that some people are not ready to leave their jobs behind and enter retirement.

Speaking at an American Chamber of Commerce luncheon last year, Chung Po-yang, chairman emeritus of delivery company DHL Asia Pacific, warned that Hong Kong's baby boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, might find themselves unprepared as they exited the city's workforce.

When asked whether he thought that Hong Kong's generation of baby boomers was ready for that third stage, he replied: "No, I don't think so.

"Not enough of them have gone through the experience. Baby boomers are going through the new phenomenon. The previous generation didn't have the option, they came down [to Hong Kong] after the war, they have a refugee mentality so they worked non-stop.

"They only think to make sure to continue accumulating wealth. But it gave them purpose to get out of bed."

Bereft of their jobs, he believed that many in this group would be unable to find a purpose in life, he said. "This is what happened to me and others too, I'm sure. I started working for my company when I was 29, I graduated when I was 27, so I've been working for 30-something years. I was really looking forward to retiring, but after 18 months of retirement, there was only so much good food I could eat, only so much good wine I could enjoy. I had to find a purpose.

"People who don't have a purpose will struggle through their last phase, go through a lot of pain and misery. That's why I encourage people to develop a hobby early on.

"People who read a lot are lucky, it's a great hobby that can only grow. The general definition for the golden age is to have a good life, live where you belong, with the people you love, doing the right thing, on purpose.

"I encourage young people to start early, to think about what they really want to do after retiring. As young as those in their 20s," he said.

With an ageing population who live well into their 80s, and even 90s, there are a good many decades left for those of active body and sound mind past the legal age of retirement.

"In the old days, people lived up to their 60s, but nowadays I can live up to the age of 90," Mr Chung said. "I'm 63 now. I've retired, but what do I do? That's the question I had to ask myself, which I'm sure many others have done or will do at the age of retirement."

Meanwhile, an increasing number of people are also looking to retire early, which means that their third age lasts longer.

A recent HSBC survey of 1,002 people in Hong Kong found that a greater proportion of younger respondents were seeking to retire early. It showed that only 26 per cent of women aged between 40 and 49 wanted to retire early, compared to 43 per cent in the 60- to 79-year-old bracket.

Meanwhile, 27 per cent of the men surveyed in the younger age bracket said they would choose early retirement, while 32 per cent in the older group said so.

Having reached this age, Mr Chung added that different people must prepare for the third age in their own ways.

"You have to work it out with your spouse on where you want to live too, it is most important that you come to an agreement. Women go through this phase at an earlier age - especially mothers who find themselves free when their children leave home, go off to university, get married and so on. But they deal with it well," he said.

"I encouraged my wife to paint, she sings, she does yoga, she arranges flowers, she has a small what-not shop in Prince's Building, so she's fully occupied. I just have to find money to pay for all the tuition," he chuckled.

Mr Chung, who over the course of his career has been awarded distinguished honours such as Hong Kong's Silver Bauhinia Star, an Order of the British Empire and being appointed a justice of peace, seems busier than ever.

He recalled how he first reflected upon his own stage in life after reading the book Repacking Your Bags: Lighten Your Load for the Rest of Your Life by Richard Leider, the founder of a coaching and consulting company in the US, and David Shapiro, education director of a non-profit organisation in the US.

"I asked myself, what do I need to shed? Here I was sitting at the head of a huge company. I realised that all the things I wanted to do I had already done in the first 15 years of my working adult life. The last 10 years were not fun for me. Then I started looking for a successor. In the process, I also found out the things I liked to do, so I started taking lessons in painting and calligraphy."

Since then, he has studied a master's degree in fine art in Australia, and campaigned for longer and better-rounded university terms for students in Hong Kong.

He said he was still playing a vital role in his company and was an active member of society, teaching at the University of Hong Kong and having created the Centre for Asian Entrepreneurship & Business Values.

"Ah, but the difference is, I choose to keep myself busy," he said. "At this stage in life, I only do what I want to do. I wanted to learn more about art, so I did. I wanted to learn some music, I did, I wanted to share my years of knowledge and experience and I get an opportunity to do that through teaching and seminars. I like to pen my thoughts so I keep a journal. I've a column in a local paper every Monday, about the choices one has and what one should do in the third act of life and it's all been great fun for me," he said, showing that he has a busier diary than most heads of companies.

"The things I didn't enjoy, learning the piano for example, I dropped. At his stage, at this age, its about choices."

With no worries of mastering an instrument with a goal of performing to sold-out venues, or with the perennial pressure of a deadline greying one's hair, the liberty to do only what one enjoys seems idyllic.

Poet takes a novel approach to history


Arabic poet Sayed Gouda has taken the plunge from his native language into English, writes P.Ramakrishnan. Picture by Jonathan Wong.

Award-winning poet Sayed Gouda found the switch from Arabic to English much easier than the recent challenge of moving from poetry to prose. "I have lived here in Hong Kong for the past 13 years and lost touch with the written Arabic language," he says with a laugh.

After 20 years as a poet, and with works published in Egypt's respected literary journal Akhbar Al-Adab, Gouda has released his first novel,Once Upon a Time in Cairo. A leading figure in Hong Kong's literary community -- he organises Arabic Nadwah, a monthly reading of Arabic poetry at the Fringe Club -- Gouda, 37, says the novel reflects the way his work has changed since he arrived in Hong Kong in 1992.

"The first writer who really opened the door for me to read English literature was Thomas Hardy -- it was Return of the Native," says the translator and accountant for the Kuwait consulate. "I loved his style. I later discovered that he was also a poet. I can see that he has chosen every word carefully. I see them as poetic novels."

Set in 1948, Once Upon a Time in Cairo follows three families living in one house. Each family claims ownership of the property, and their animosity spreads across generations. Gouda describes it as a parable of the Middle East.
"It's a symbolic novel," he says. "Each character resembles a country or a leader in the Middle East. And each chapter deals with a certain period of our modern history."

The novel starts in 1948, when Israel took over Palestinian land. The other sections are based in the historically important years of 1956, 1967, 1973 and 1981. Gouda tears out a page from his notebook and draws diagrams. "The character Delilah -- she represents Israel itself," he says. "The master of the district is El-King, the king. By that I mean Britain, the kingdom.

"In the old times, there used to be a master for the street or the district itself -- a master who collects protection tax on people, a master who protects the family who claims the room. This overseer was Britain at first. In time, like an old lion who goes away, El-King loses power. The character of a sultan comes in -- a new master. That's America. All the names of the characters have more than one meaning. In Arabic, all names mean more than what the syllables are."

Although the symbolism is clear, Gouda says the message of the book is kept vague. "Before creating any sort of art -- whether it's a poem, a novel, a painting or a piece of music -- should I have a message to convey to the reader? The answer in my opinion is, `Not necessarily'. Even if there's a message, I shouldn't reveal it," Gouda says. "I can only convey it wrapped in my work of art and leave it to the reader to unfold it and understand it in any way he likes.


"To be neutral is not an easy task, I have to admit, especially when I know that my countrymen will read it. But as a writer, I must be unbiased. I don't expect everyone to understand the story in exactly the same way as I do. It's almost impossible. I wrote it as a novelist, not a historian. If the reader enjoys it as a novel, I'm happy."


Friday, June 10, 2005, South China Morning Post