Family Jewels

Continuing the family legacy of providing jewels for the famed and fortuned, Hong Kong based Jonathan Abram's role seems like a genetic predisposition. P.Ramakrishnan meets the rising son, who's continuing his illustrious father's footsteps in the business. Picture by Hyvis Tong.


Looking at what's on display at the Ronald Abram boutique in Hong Kong, it's a glimmering array of diamonds, both coloured and white. "It's the stones themselves that are the most exciting part of being in the business," says Jonathan Abram, Ronald's son and director of Ronald Abram. "I've seen some of the most beautiful jewels in the world from the time I was 15; rare jewels, small and precious and huge ones - and combinations of both colour and cut. There was no pressure from my parents to become involved in the family business, but I came back to it after studying at University. When I was younger, I always accompanied my father to work and was constantly intrigued. My brothers and I heard about the business when I was at home and I developed a fascination for it. I guess it was just in my blood."

At stores across Hong Kong brace themselves for the festive and shopping season, sale signs are being displayed around the city as we speak. "It's certainly one of our busiest seasons. The diamond market is cyclical and we're optimistic that this is going to be a good period ahead. Shoppers in this city are sophisticated, and they are a very diverse group. The market is quite mixed when it comes to buying vintage (anything from the 1930s to the 1970s) or antique (over 100 years old) jewellery and there are many who appreciate it and buy it for its artistic value, because the designs can't be replicated. And then there are those who wouldn't buy pre-owned items because they're superstitious about it, as some cultures are."

Though you can't fault any of the pieces for their unequivocal brilliance, canary yellow and pink diamonds do seem to stand out in the smorgasbord of jewels. "When Jennifer Lopez got her pink diamond engagement ring, it got as much publicity as the Taylor-Burton ring. There was a rapid increase in sales in pink diamonds that year and jewelers everywhere credit J Lo for the publicity blitz that shone on the diamond! You would be surprised to know that the most visible celebrity group isn't comprised of Rappers or Hip-Hop stars, who do buy the real thing and then sing about it. The biggest buyers of diamonds in the celebrity circuit over the past few years have been Ellen Barkin and Oprah Winfrey. They are the stars who are the world's biggest buyers - although I don't know what Barkin's been buying since her divorce from Ron Perelman...".

Speaking of celebrities, Marilyn Monroe and Nicole Kidman crooned that "Diamonds are a girl's best friend", but legend has it that both wore fakes - or as in Kidman's case Swarovski crystals. Can you tell if a glistening rock is the genuine article or glass without a monocle? "In a second!" says Abram. "Any jeweler should be able to tell a fake very quickly. Quite simply, the brilliance of a real diamond cannot be replicated."


Picture by Hyvis Tong of model sporting Ronald Abram jewels.

Racing the Planet

The Sahara Desert has been captured on film and photographed like a mysterious and exotic woman; all seductive silhouettes and promising curves, scorching hot by day, icy cool by night. For Martyn Sawyer, a race across its unforgiving terrain seemed like the perfectly logical thing to do. P.Ramakrishnan captures a few moments with the New Age Marathon man and asks the most obvious question, er... why?




The year was 1976. Actor Dustin Hoffman met the legendary Laurence Olivier on the set of the film "Marathon Man", where the model of method acting, Hoffman, decided to go through the physical hardship of extreme training for his role. Found in a state of complete exhaustion and with his body tested to the limit after a race, when Olivier met the gasping shell of the Oscar-winning star at the end, he simply said,"My dear fellow, have you tried acting?"

More than 30 years later, the anecdote swims in my mind while listening to the trials and tribulation of Martyn Sawyer. Last November, at the age of 49, the gung-ho and hearty hotel management senior executive ran across the Sahara Desert in seven days, with 60 other quixotic participants who joined "Racing the Planet", an event that takes place four times a year, when people from around the world congregate to traverse across some of the harshest environments in the world. Sawyer's first race ran the gamut of the Farafra and Bahariya Oases, in the largest desert in Egypt, the finish line being in front of the Sphinx just next to the Pyramids of Giza.

Sitting in his office in Hong Kong, Sawyer recounts the harshest moments of his experience. By day four in the Sahara, he had acquired a second skin of dust and dirt that covered his body almost entirely, a thick patina of fine brown powder that saved him from getting kicked out of the race and from sunburn.

"In the middle of the race, my leg had swollen up incredibly but I didn't have an infection. My legs were very red and when one of the medical staff saw me at the check point, they warned me that if this continued, they would have to pull me from the race," recalls the man who surprisingly, has no tan or debilitating injuries to show after having completed the grueling 250-kilometre journey. "By some miracle the swelling went down the following day, and the fine desert sand was almost the same colour as my skin. It covered my entire leg, so it wasn't red anymore... they let me continue the race."

The damage to Sawyer, for all its skin-peeling horrors, was nominal. "Five people had to be taken out of the race and there were others on intravenous drips at rest stops. I didn't mind the heat, but nothing bothered me as much as getting sand in my shoes - which I know sounds silly - but I had bought this pair of shoes that seemed like the most durable, comfortable and the lightest, but what I didn't count on was how very, very fine the sand was. It seeped through every hole and crevice and I was blistering badly". Had that continued each day, the end was nigh for the enthusiastic competitor. "I had to cut up a running mate's nylon shorts and pin the fabric over the holes to prevent the sand from getting in," he recalls.

For Sawyer, taking on this challenge was a mighty big mission and like any race, it all begins with the first step. "My first challenge was the Sahara and this will be followed by the Gobi Desert on June 17th this year, the Atacama Plains in Chile in March 2008 and then, if I make it through all that, I'll be eligible for the last race, Antarctica in January 2009", states the valiant globe trotter.

In the desert, the temperature can reach up to a searing 46 degrees Celsius in the summer, but the racer admits that it is as much a mental challenge as a physical one.

"I didn't understand it but at one time I was euphoric, ready to take on the world, but the next minute, sheer misery. It was devastating at times, but I never wanted to quit". Though it might seem like a vast monochrome canvas, there is actually much more to the desert Sawyer assures, than physical endurance, referring to the vast beauty in the endless landscape.

"Visually, it's absolutely stunning. I think the most captivating was the night sky," he says, painting a picture that his camera couldn't capture. "I slept out on the sand in a tent, crammed in with the rest of the surviving racers (there were only five casualties this year) and it's not the most comfortable tent in the world. The first night, I just made myself a little sarcophagus in the sand and stared at the sky. It's three dimensional, and so deep with stars. It's completely open to you and you can even see satellites dashing across it."

The race was eventually won by a 21 year-old, but even a 66 year-old man crossed the line to a warm reception of loud cheers from all participants. "That was my target, simply to finish the race. I knew I wouldn't come in first but that wasn't the point. Crossing the line was," admits the man who beyond any measure of doubt, is likely to continue to conquer the world, one step at a time.

CEO Series: Thierry Fritsch: Interview with President and CEO of Chaumet, Paris

Thierry Fritsch
President and CEO of Chaumet, Paris

As the head of the prestigious French brand, Chaumet, Thierry Fritsch hops around the globe ensuring the pristine image and standards of the company are strictly maintained. He speaks to P.Ramakrishnan on the eve of the opening of the brand's signature store in Central, Hong Kong.

The House of Chaumet can be traced back centuries, not decades, as the company provided jewellery to Marie Antoinette and Napoleon Bonaparte. So how is this Parisian brand still relevant and not an archaic relic from history? By staying ahead of the curve, knowing where fashion is heading, and constantly upgrading its image and its products, while remaining true to the company's philosophy and rich tradition.

Even the most cynical of media watchers have been impressed by the Chaumet advertising campaign - the mirror-like shot of the modern girl staring at herself in vintage form, a reflection of Chaumet's link between past and present. How did the concept come about?


Thierry Fritsch: From the beginning, I wanted to use a British photographer because only a British photographer would immediately understand how we could play with the concept of royalty, without trying to make the model look like the Queen of England. We selected Richard Burbridge, an Englishman who works in New York. I had lunch with him and tried to explain the idea. Then he said, "I've got it, you want an element of fantasy somewhere, not reality. I have the picture in mind."

This is the magic of an artist, because you have a wish and then you see the artist transform it into reality. He also suggested that the perfect model would be Stella Tennant because she's British, she's an aristocrat, she knows how to wear a tiara, and because she's a modern woman. I said to him that I didn't know her and that she would probably be very expensive but he said that she was a friend and he would call her. Then he called Stella and told her that she had no choice! There was one shoot in New York with just Richard, Stella and the tiara and they did it! It was magic.


The entire campaign came into being in one session?
Thierry Fritsch: Yes. During the shoot, Stella was supposed to wear the tiara and make it stand up like a crown, but she said that was old-fashioned and boring. "I'm going to put it on like a bandana," she said, and the result was outstanding. She dared to do it because she is an aristocrat and was not in awe of a tiara. She did it in a natural way, with a true understanding of what Chaumet is. It's a natural story.


While running the company, you've also been involved in every aspect of bringing Chaumet to life. How do you see your role?
Thierry Fritsch: My job is just to select the right people. It is just like casting. If you select the right photographer, the right model, the right architect, the right designer, the right craftsman, then they will work their magic. You know, apart from Stella or Richard or someone like the great architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte (who designed our stores), they have to understand what Chaumet is, its history and its significance in both the past and present. When you understand the roots, then you can go very far.

Apart from royal families, who's buying your signature piece, the tiara?

Thierry Fritsch: Well, we don't sell only tiaras - the market of tiaras is somewhat limited in the world! We also have an extensive range of watches and fine jewellery. You may be surprised to know that we still do actually sell tiaras and crowns, particularly to royal families in the Gulf. Wait, see this? (Fritsch finds a sketch of a turban, lavishly embellished with pearls and emeralds). This was done for the Maharaja of Indore. It's the original drawing. We make some of the grand pieces by creating drawings first, and we still do special orders like this. All kinds of people are welcome at Chaumet.

What other Asian hot-spots are there for Chaumet?
Thierry Fritsch: People understand Chaumet all around the world - anyone who knows haute couture, and old cultures. For example, its very easy for us to explain Chaumet to Japanese people and I'm not afraid of the Chinese market or the Italian market because if you have had a culture for centuries, then you'll understand Chaumet. We've been in Japan for a while, and now it's the number one market in the world for us.

Why Japan? Why not a European country with ever-present royalty?
Thierry Fritsch: Japan is a massive luxury goods market. The Japanese fall between Imperial tradition and strong modernity, and they fully understand the value of luxury goods. Last year I went to Japan six times, and this year seven, to break my record.

Published in The Peninsula magazine, Volume3, Issue 4

Postcards from the Past

A stunning collection of vintage photographs of Hong Kong showcases not only the merits of a vast array of Asian photographers, but also captures the transient face of an ever-changing city unlike any other in the world. P.Ramakrishnan was granted access to the Hong Kong Heritage Museum before the ground opening ceremony of the exhibition and offers a preview of the collection of the images.

Documenting Hong Kong's vast changes in a supremely aesthetic manner, the latest exhibition at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum has piqued interest among not only photographers, but also collectors of classic cameras. "Camera's Inside-out" showcases old cameras - an incredible range of gadgets collected by David Chan - and the collective works of a group of local photographers from the 1950s to the hot shots of today.

Featuring more than 100 cameras manufactured in different periods and countries, the exhibition is a linear compilation of the technological history of photography. Cameras from Germany in the 1960s, French ones from the 70s, and models from Japan, China and even Hong Kong, are all on display.

Mostly through black and white photography, it's also a look at some long forgotten aspects of Hong Kong; markets and farms and greenery now extinct in the main metropolis and concrete jungles of Central and Wan Chai and shots of Happy Valley when it was nothing but a swamp, not the cluster of residential blocks and racecourse that it is today. With each successive turn among the labyrinth walls, showing a smorgasbord of photographic artistry, it's a true trip down memory lane.

Entering "Cameras Inside-out" on the second floor of the cavernous building, the first item on view is a gigantic box, with a black hood and an accordion shutter. This contraption happens to be a vintage camera, Godzillian next to the palm-sized Digi-cams that many people have today. As David Chan, renowned collector of cameras, cars and gadgets (who generously donated many items to the museum) says, "In the old days, it was a privileged few who could afford to get their picture taken, let alone own a camera. In the early days, it was all 'salon' photography. Families dressed up and came to a studio and sat seriously as they spent a lot of money to get their picture taken. The cameras were these wonderful, revered machines - I've loved them and collected them for years."

Indeed the cameras are held in glass cases like precious jewels. For collectors like Chan, the camera itself is a piece of art with considerable historical value.

With framed photographs by more than 30 forefathers of local photography, such as Kan Hing-fook, Tchan Fou-li, Leo K.K. Wong and Ngan Chun-tung, the beautiful collection of images perfectly complements the machines displayed in front of them. Local contemporary artists and photographers have also submitted their own work for display, including Almond Chu, So Hing-keung, Bobby Sham Lam Wai-kit and Chow Chun-fai. While some found inspiration in nature, others in architecture, faces enamoured some, while being caught unaware was a theme for others.

Dr. Leo K. K. Wong graced the opening and walked around with the media, the legendary photographer discussing at length the evolution of Asian photography as those in the trade worked as both documentary makers of a period, and were artists in their own right. when asked if his Doctorate title is an Honorary one, he chuckles and says, "In my time, photography was never considered a 'real' job so I did my Doctorate too!"

As we tour through the labyrinth of sepia toned canvasses, he says, "Though photography is a product of art and science, to me, it is an art. As an art form, photography is a perfect means of human expression. Anyone can be a cameraman these days and photographers had to work harder in the past. Modern technical advancement makes it all much simpler today. However, not anyone is an artist."

As we pass one of the more modern pieces that appears entirely out of focus and just seems a blur of hazy colours, it's hard not to nod in agreement. "If I must commit myself to answer which era showcased the best work, I think in Hong Kong photography the 'golden age' may have been the period between 1955 and 1975 when monochrome photography prevailed and many classic, good works were produced by the local pictorial enthusiasts. My favourite photographer was Ernst Haas and I was much inspired by his book, "The Creation." In recent years, I have been greatly influenced by the old, classical masters in Chinese ink painting and calligraphy for their abstraction."

Tapping the glass case that seals a rare Canon camera, he says, "I started photography as a serious hobby in 1966 and my favourite cameras were then medium format (Rolleiflex & Hasselblad). In recent years, I changed to a 35mm (Canon EOS). Nature is a favourite subject of mine to shoot, especially the changing faces of nature in different seasons and at various times of the day because it elicits different responses in me, impressing upon me the endless cycle of life. Pressing the shutter at the decisive moment and capturing an image which transcends nature gives me endless pleasure. I have always preferred outdoor photography to studio work."

As current postcards of Hong Kong bear well-lit skyscrapers and serpentine traffic as the face of the city, it's hard to believe that the most of the shots in the exhibit - of the country, children in rivers, birds in flight, open landscapes, priests, singers, ships and boats - were taken right here.

As we pass by a row of portraits, I ask if there's a reason why people always seem to look better in black and white pictures? "I think that it's that the simple elements of monochrome can better convey and express the mood and feeling of the human being," Wong responds with a barely discernible smile. "I am still using colour transparencies and am not at all keen on post-production. In recent years, multiple exposure has become my favourite method of photography. At this stage of modern technical advancement, I still consider that a digital camera and Photoshop does not produce the final image that I expect. With film, the moment I press the shutter, the final image produced by multiple exposure is the end-result of the reaction between light, colour and the emulsion of the film - in essence, that means that it is a photo-chemical reaction rather than superimposed digital diagrams."

What does Wong think of the current state of photography in Hong Kong? "Although there is always the argument between pictorial versus documentary photography, I am rather optimistic about the future of local photography. I see that there is ample space and opportunity for the harmonious development of all types of photography in Hong Kong under the heading of photographic art."

Images courtesy of LSCD.

From Top to Bottom; Struggling by Tchan Fou-li (1967, (Hasselblad Camera), Small Photographer by Lo Tak-cho, (1935 - 1944, Rolleiflex Camera), Approaching Shadow by Ho Fan (1956, Rolleiflex 3.5 F Camera)

CEO Series: Simon Murray, CBE & David Tan, OBE

Simon Murray, CBE, Founder and chairman of Simon Murray and associates, CEO of GEMS.
David Tang, OBE, Founder and Director of Tangs Department Stores, CEO of DWC Tang Development Ltd



For this special Hong Kong themed edition of The Peninsula, it was a difficult decision to choose between the most talked about and the most written about CEOs in town. Do we pick up the well-read and the popular or the adventurous and the unstoppable? Why pick one when we can double the pleasure for good measure?

Presenting the inimitable David Tang and the incredible Simon Murray, men of power, vision, style and savvy, as heads of their respective companies, every year they add a paragraph to their lengthy list of achievements. Both good friends and a Dictaphone's delight, we sent them the same list of questions only to get disparate responses, indicative of the distinctive personalities who made it big in Hong Kong.

It's an achievement of sorts when you've got an entry and web page in Wikipedia and spurious as it may be, but Leicester-born Simon Murray, 66, certainly does. Mostly because his achievements could indeed fill a page in an encyclopedia but let's dispel some myths fabricated online. For the record, he is the writer of Legionnaire: An Englishman in the French Foreign Legion, an account of the five years he spent in the parachute regiment of the French Foreign Legion. He does head GEMS but it has nothing to do with jewels or diamonds; it's a Hong Kong-based private equity investment arm and an acronym for General Enterprise Management Services Limited. In 2004, at the age of 63, he became the oldest man to reach the South Pole unsupported. Founder and chairman of Simon Murray & Associates, his corporate success sometimes seem incidental, compared to the array of accomplishments he has achieved outside his office.

Perhaps one of the most famous Hong Kong exports and one of the brightest sparks in the international social circuit, David Tang O.B.E., 52, always seems ahead of the curve. Whether it's dressing Whoopi Goldberg for a television show with his brand of high fashion, or discussing world politics with Margaret Thatcher and the last governor of Hong Kong, Chris Pattern, or heading to an island resort with his wife and their good friend supermodel Kate Moss and co, Tang has done it all with panache, style and remarkable wit. For a man deeply grounded in Hong Kong, a city he calls home despite his extensive travels, his posh British baritone seems like an antithesis. Just like his title of being a "Taipan Anglophile", a "a philosopher socialite" and other labels that the media has slapped him with - none of which he takes seriously, he assures. A man of many seeming contradictions, he's also a journalist's dream; full of bon mots and quotables. He was on a flight when he sent responses to this Q&A via his new best friend; his blackberry.



P.Ramakrishnan: As the head of your companies, what qualities do you think a leader should preternaturally possess-and what are the ones that you learn with experience and time?

Simon Murray: I don't know what preternaturally means, but the key quality a leader needs is to be able to choose good people (support comes from below, very seldom from above) and also to remember that people follow those in whom they trust.

David Tang: A leader must always have the confidence and conviction of his staff. They must also believe you know best. And it's best to be able to explain your decisions in simple and convincing terms.

How would you best describe yourself? "I am a ..."

SM: I am a hunter - but I like the chase more than the kill - and I love the excitement of life and am interested in all of it, from the morning mist as the sun comes up to the night stars - from dancing to deals - from history, to predicting the future - boredom is a sin.

DT: I am always, as a businessman, looking for niches. Anything I choose to do should be exceptional. All good business should be based on a single idea which then needs to be focused, focused and focused more on.

What is the source of pride and joy in your company? Which particular achievement stands out?

SM: We created something of value and the operative words are "created" as in "birth" and "we" - as in a team.

DT: Any business that matures and becomes profitable for 10 years is a good foundation. And any business which sustains profitability, more or less, for 20 years, is a good achievement.

During troubling times - fiscally, during SARS, the rise and fall of the stock market/trade and such - where do you find the strength to continue?

SM: There are many sources of energy from where we get our inner strength. Hate and love are great sources of energy - as are greed and fear - but the greatest source is hope.

DT: The strength comes from the knowledge that the business are not geared or leveraged or under-capitalised.

Who was the great influence in your professional career?

SM:The greatest influence in my professional career was Li Ka-Shing because he taught me much and gave me more. The role models for life were those I read about in the school library in my young days - Livingstone, Nelson, Burton, Scott, Nansen, Cook, Drake, Churchill and Al Capone.

DT: Anton Rupert for his vision, and Warren Buffett for his valuation of building a business with products and services.

What is one thing/person that can have you racing out of the office as soon as the clock hits 7:00pm?

SM: It's confidential - and it isn't "Dallas".

DT: When someone you don't know very well, or not at all, telephones you and asks whether he could pick your brain and "explore opportunities".

The adage is, the secret of success is doing what you love to do. Was there any job in the past that you did just because it paid the bills?

SM: At eighteen I worked in an iron foundry in Manchester, because it was a job (and they were hard to come by in the 50s) and yes, it paid the bills. It was not dissimilar to working down a coal mine in Victorian England except the coal mine would have been less polluted. I hated it so much I ran away to join the Foreign Legion in Algeria for five years.

DT: More important than doing a job that pays the bills is the notion of preoccupation. I was a floor assistant, kitchen washer-up and cashier when I was young, having to look for pocket money. But whilst I was doing all these jobs, I didn't not stop thinking about other things, and I spent a lot of time reading.

As new graduates hit the market and go job hunting, what would you say to them? When it comes to hiring people, what key qualities do you look for in a person?

SM: I am old-fashioned. I look for honesty, integrity, loyalty and passion combined with modesty and some achievement already accomplished. They must have done something, and having a sense of humour is also a great asset.

DT: Anyone coming for an interview with me most show that they have done some homework on the companies for which they are applying for a job. For them to say that they are committed and will work hard and believe that they have talent is simply not good enough - and boring. I like those young people who know what they want to start doing and get on with it before thinking about higher ambitions.

If you could turn back the clock, what would you do again differently?

SM: Nothing. We do not regret the things we do, we regret the things we left undone though the opportunity was presented.

DT: In business, I wish I was more aggressive and more thick-skinned and more ruthless in personnel.

What is the ultimate goal for your company? What can we expect from you in the future?

SM: Not much. I am three years off 70 in the year of the Pig. It's nearly time to hand over the keys of the front door and time to start coming in by the side door. The company belongs not to me, but the team, and they will take it on up the hill.

DT: Sustainability is the only goal I wish to achieve for all my businesses. If they are still going strong when I was dead, that is what I would call success.

Top Tier: Interview with Crown Jeweller David Thomas: "The British Monarchy Returning the Kohinoor to India is..."

The term priceless is so overused and more often than not falsely stated. In fact, the word has virtually lost all value - except when David Thomas, the Crown Jeweller, says it. P.Ramakrishnan meets a true blue connoisseur of the finer things in life. 

Portrait by Hyvis Tong.

Every year, a long missive requesting the return of the Kohinoor ('Mountain of Light' in Persian) diamond to Indian authorities is sent from some nether office in New Delhi to Buckingham palace. Originating from India, the 105 carat (21.6g) rock is one of the largest diamonds in the world that historically belonged to Indian and Persian rulers for the past five centuries. When Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India in 1877, the sizeable rock made its way into the crown jewels but since the country's independence, certain parliament minds in post-colonial India think that the spoils of war need be returned. The Queen, however, is not amused. As David Thomas, the Crown Jeweller says, "I think the letter is sent every month but the chances of returning the diamond from the crown jewels does seem..."

Preposterous? Laughable?

"Er...unlikely," he says with utmost decorum, in the polished English accent that he has surely acquired from his close proximity to the Royal family. The Queen herself in fact. Seated in the bejewelled enclave of Lane Crawford at Hong Kong's ifc mall, where the majestic gems and jewellery of Garrard are on display, during his first visit to the SAR, the man who has handed and maintained the priceless bounty of the UK Royals is fully aware of the history and value of all the individual pieces of jewellery that the family owns. Correction, that the family has access to - as the Crown Jewels belong to no one, but the Sovereign State.


Like many legendary jewels, the Kohinoor that sits on the crown has a fantastic myth orbiting around it; reputed to bring misfortune and death to any male who wears or owns it. However, conversely, it is supposed to bring good luck to its female owners and, all the long living, long-reigning sovereigns of United Kingdom are aware, there's something to be said for the legend.


Well, the Queen is 81 now and rarely travels, and certainly never with the Crown. "The Crown Jewels in the Tower are not allowed to leave the country," explains Thomas. "Because many, many years ago, they did roam about and the kings and queens of those days were not trustworthy and the jewels wouldn't necessarily come back. In 1911, when George V and Queen Mary went to India to be crowned Emperor and Empress, he needed a crown. But the crown in the Tower couldn't possibly cross borders so another one had to be made. All the coloured stones were sent over from nobility of India, diamonds were supplied by Garrard and it was in December 1911 when they made another crown on foreign soil, and it came back. And it has been worn once and once only. Now it rests in the Tower.

One wonders, should any crafty thief decide to try to get their hands on any of the sizeable bounty in the Tower of London (as many a Bollywood hero has done in Hindi films; stealing the crown as in the plot of the latest Indian blockbuster, Dhoom 2) what the repercussions would be. Do the guards circumnavigating the tower stay on high alert for burglars?

"They are always on high alert but, for me, it's really not a major concern as the last time anyone tried to steal the Crown Jewels was in 1671 and they didn't get very far. They barely got to the east gate of the Tower of London," says the Crown Jeweller, encyclopedic with dates and details. "You know, everybody thinks it was a put up job by the then King to get money, but the person who did it, Kernel Blood, was pardoned and given land in Ireland and told not to come back. Everyone who did something wrong was sent off to Ireland - don't ask me why."

David Thomas joined Garrard in 1986 and was invited to apprentice with the Crown Jeweller, with the idea of succeeding the man who held the position before him. "It was a position to consider when my predecessor retired. I trained alongside him for five years and it wasn't foregone conclusion that I would get the job - as the appointment is conferred by the Sovereign and only the Sovereign, that is the Queen herself. The first Crown Jeweller was appointed in 1843, and its succession has gone on and it is now an Act of Parliament. Someone has to be there to take care of and maintain the Crown Jewels. Ten Crowns, numerous dishes, bracelets, rings and cups - in addition to the private collection of the Queen, are collectively designated as the Crown Jewels. After Queen Victoria and Queen Mary's time, there was such large collection that it required someone to watch over it all. Many of the private pieces are not kept in the Tower but in Buckingham Palace itself, as the Queen likes to wear them. Well, she has to wear something, the poor woman!"

As the largest reigning royal figure on the planet and one of the wealthiest, Queen Elizabeth II is the sole figure who can authorise where and to whom any of the jewels may be bestowed upon. "When Queen Mary died and then Queen Victoria, these are the pieces that Her Majesty inherited. They're given to the nation and can't be sold (despite some people having tried many years ago). They belong to the people really and have to be handed down. When the Prince of Wales was married to Diana, there were heritage pieces that were given to her by the Queen that originally belonged to Queen Mary and she knew, tragically killed or not, at the end of her day, they would have to go back."

The late Diana did toy with the jewels given, well, loaned to her. Remember the bandana she made with some notable pearls? "Yes, well, she didn't deliberately set out to do anything controversial then. Little known fact, she was sun-burnt in Australia and it pained her to wear them around her neck so they became a bandana." Since her death, the piece does now rest within the aegis of Thomas. "Heritage pieces travel generations. I guess it will go to Prince William when he gets married. I say 'guess' because it's entirely up to the Sovereign."

With a slight pause and sip of water, he continues in a slightly hushed tone, "I am not privileged to all the information of what the Queen has planned, but I have some idea."

Like the caves mentioned in Ali Baba, the sheer size and breadth of the Monarch's collection one imagines would make one spoilt for choice, but as the confidante to the Queen says, she always returns to classics. "The Queen always wears her pearls. Always, always, always. Three or four strands of pearls, her diamond earrings, and her engagement ring. The ring is never off her finger. She's absolutely devoted to The Duke of Edinburgh, despite whatever reports you read in the paper. You try and it get if off her finger just to get it cleaned and she says, 'Well, it is coming back in five minutes isn't it? Five minutes.' And then she walks around impatiently until it comes back."

Tabloid rumours of gauging Her Majesty's mood according to what jewels she's wearing is pure conjecture, assures the man who likes to clear up common misconceptions of the most written-about family in Europe. "She will pick and choose her own items. There really isn't a correlation between what she gives to the family and how fond she is of the person, and it's cruel and speculative of the media to suggest this. It's not unlike people assuming she's unhappy because she has her blue brooch on. It's entirely a wardrobe choice. Sapphires with blue outfits, rubies with red, and so on."

With a sudden spotlight on rubies in the press, again, it is incredible that there are thousands of websites, hundreds of books, films and TV shows dedicated to the Monarchy and its possessions. "Everyone's interested in royal jewels not just because they are big and beautiful artefacts, but because of a genuine fascination of history and knowing where these pieces come from. The Duchess of Cornwall was wearing this staggering ruby necklace in the US last month and people tried to find out where she got it from, but no one knows the secret of how it was acquired in history."

"It is easy to spot the inaccuracies published," he continues. "There are one or two inaccuracies in the books on royal jewels (which author Suzy Menkes is aware of too). And I constantly read wrong descriptions; something is described as a sapphire diamond brooch and I know it's a diamond brooch, or that it was given by a certain person when I know it wasn't. The press tend to look up their archives in a rushed manner instead of going through the right channels. They just want the photograph out quick and to be the first with the story and not necessarily be accurate and, as the British press does, puts in an apology or a correction the following day in a little square somewhere."

Apologies that should have been printed when online scribes wrote that Garrard was "duplicating" designs from the vaults of the Queen's collection? The company is doing no such thing as Thomas clears up immediately, "You cannot replicate the insignia of the Royal emblem, but the pieces are inspired by the curves, colours and stones that are in the royal collection. That's all. We wouldn't pass off anything and say this is one exactly like what's in the Queen's armoire. The curves of the Royal sceptre have influenced the curves in an earring for example. These are very high end piece where the focus is entirely on quality. The "Wings" collection has been, pardon the pun, flying off the shelves, and people can't get enough of it. All the pieces have been made with the finest stones. As the official jeweller for the Royal family, one does have standards to maintain."

But of course.

Wings of a Dove: Interview with Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner Rita Dove

American Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner Rita Dove graced the podium at the University of Hong Kong to enrapture an audience with the spoken word. Her mastery and command of language displayed via exquisite renditions of her poetry, it was a tour de force performance that left the audience applauding and a parliament of professors giving her a standing ovation. Senior Editor P.Ramakrishnan had his own audience with Dove in Hong Kong. 

Portrait by William Furniss.

In the google generation of instant gratification, is there any time left to ponder the significance of the written word when the instant messaging messengers have no time to "spl" out "nuffin" to its cohesive conclusion? Where the most common derivative of the New Age is the acronym "lol"? Caffeinated culture vultures hover at publishing houses that deem poetry writers as the last of a dying breed, as the noble resort to publishing them, not so much in appreciation or for profit, but more so as a tax write-off and an indulgence on myspace.

Bless Rita Dove for stringing the last strand of hope among generation next, as a congregation of 20-somethings packed the halls of The University of Hong Kong (HKU). Of course, some were there in compulsion, Dove's books are a matter of study in many Universities, HKU included. But there were over 100 other students and fans, in rapt attendance, filling up all the chairs, lining up at the back of the hall, double-seated on the aisle in the cascading arena which led up to the podium, where Dove even danced a little to showcase a term she coined in one of her poems.

She dances with words, makes them move to her groove, she sings them, contorts them, and ignites them into life. It's hard not to deify Dove, for her sheer acuity is overwhelming, and her poetry is embedded with rich subtext, laced with historical facts, each syllable rippling with empathy, erudition and exactitude.

Shape the lips to an o, say a. That's island.
One word of Swedish has changed the whole neighborhood.
When I look up, the yellow house on the corner
is a galleon stranded in flowers. Around it
the wind. Even the high roar of a leaf-mulcher
could be the horn blast from a ship
as it skirts the misted shoals.
We don't need much more to keep things going.
Families complete themselves
and refuse to budge from the present,
the present extends its glass forehead to sea
(backyard breezes, scattered cardinals)
and if, one evening, the house on the corner
took off over the marshland,
neither I nor my neighbor
would be amazed. Sometimes
a word is found so right it trembles
at the slightest explanation.
You start out with one thing, end
up with another, and nothing's
like it used to be, not even the future.

-- From the collection of poetry in "The Yellow House on the Corner", Rita Dove.


Looking around the cluster of aspiring literati, with their digital recorders, snapping pictures from their phone-cams, I can hear the pitch of someone texting rows behind me, an activity that's engendered a new lexicon of misspellings and dubious acronyms. Even legendary photographer Richard Avedon declared that "images are fast replacing words as our primary language."

"Well, of course he would say that wouldn't he? And of course I disagree," says Dove with a throaty, sardonic laugh. "From the outside, it looks like we're speeding up and we're about to tumble over the cliff, but I find evidence actually from the "Google" generation (of instant access, information and gratification) I guess you can call it, of... hope. 

When you look online, it is evident to me that words are still important. People are writing - fan fiction, blogs, to each other, instant messages - it's disappearing into the air never to be seen again, but they're still writing. More so than my generation because we just wrote letters when necessary. Language is still there, as is the urge to use it, to create realities and to bring back events, in other words, creative writing is still evident even in the Google generation. So I don't think we're tumbling down the cliff. Our language is speeding up, but it still exists."

From someone whose craft necessitates that she be sensitive to the nuances of language, rhythm and meter, Dove can see how the daily erosion of the idiom is occurring, lamentably.

"When they want it done quicker through less typing on the screen. I despair. Every time I see someone spell 'a lot' as one word ("alot"), I want to scream!," she says, her multi-coloured lacquered nails clutching into a fist. "I'm in the usage panel for the American Heritage Dictionary, which... is a really fun panel to be on ( she laughs again). Every once in a while they'll send you a huge document, multiple choice. Basically it asks whether we should include this word or not, or what the definition of a word should be. It's wonderful riding the wave of a language, and whether it's going to be included in the dictionary and I find myself, incredibly conservative, raising my voice to say, 'No we will not pronounce that word that way!' It's a muddying of the language, you've got all these great little subtleties of language that you can use as a writer, but as a speaker why mush it all together? So I am very conservative!"

As an American writer, I do use the American spelling - except the word 'grey' which I insist on spelling with an 'e' - because it looks 'greyer' with an 'e'!" she says with a chuckle.

Born in Akron, Ohio in 1952, this 1970 Presidential Scholar received her B.A. summa cum laude from Miami University of Ohio and her M.F.A from the University of Iowa. She also held a Fulbright scholarship at the Universitat Tubingen in Germany. Known for her intellectual curiosity (her subject matter has a vast Diaspora - from an ancient Chinese princess, a German woman widowed during World war II, mythological characters to the blues singer Bessie Smith) and of her love of travel, she said an invitation to visit China and Hong Kong was an offer she couldn't refuse. The evening of our interview was the last leg before the journey home (currently she's a Professor of English at the University of Virginia where she teaches creative writing).

Moments after her talk at a private function, as the wine and cheese crowd form a nucleus around her every step, clutching her every word, someone congratulates her on receiving the Common Wealth Award earlier this year. She simply says, "It is nice to be recognised and acknowledged." And she leaves it at that.

And now, brace yourself for this list: Dove served as Poet Laureate of the United States and Consultant to the Library of Congress from 1993 to 1995 and as Poet Laureate of the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2004 to 2006. Among numerous literary and academic honors, the 1987 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry; the 2003 Emily Couric Leadership Award; the 1997 Sara Lee Frontrunner Award; the 1997 Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award; the 1996 Heinz Award in the Arts and Humanities; and the 1996 National Humanities Medal. Before she landed in Hong Kong, 26 years after her first book was published, she had just received the coveted Commonwealth Award of Distinguished Service (together with Anderson Cooper, John Glenn, Mike Nichols and Queen Noor of Jordan).


Rosa

How she sat there,
the time right inside a place
so wrong it was ready.
That trim name with
its dream of a bench
to rest on. Her sensible coat.
Doing nothing was the doing :
the clean flame of her gaze
carved by a camera flash.
How she stood up
when they bent down to retrieve
her purse. That courtesy.
-- From "On the Bus With Rosa Parks" by Rita Dove


Criticism has come in various permutations too. As dubious as it may be, in one of the online discussions on Dove, many a finger has typed that in her subject matter lies a cold distancing of herself. Her books are peopled by characters in world history, not hers. She writes "from the brain, not the heart".

"No I don't agree with that," she says politely, but firmly. "Everything I have written about means something deep to me. The thing that confuses a lot of people is that I write a lot about many subjects," she says in self-defense. Indeed, between her books "Fifth Sunday" and "Through the Ivory Gate", the range and versatility of subject and matter is astonishing.

"I haven't decided to only write about my life. Every time I've written about a subject, its because it has moved me deeply. Every time I've written with a persona, through the voice of someone else, I'm living with that anguish at the moment that I write it. I do think there's a great desire in my writing, in my psyche, I guess to protect myself - that comes from being black and being told as a child that you have to. Even if someone does something bad to you, don't let them know that you're upset - so you build up this mask. It is self-protection and preservation."

As her brows furrow in a pause, she leans back in the un-peopled auditorium for the photoshoot. It's well into the evening as the students have exited, the canape crowd has trickled out and her radio and newspaper interviews are over and done with. "In the last couple of books of mine, there has been a lot more autobiographical reference. The dancing is about me (she says of her latest book "American Smooth"). They're all first person. The "I" finally came out!"

Dove, married to writer and journalist Fred Viebahn, has one daughter, Aviva. In her last release "American Smooth"' she verbalises her passion for dance, and dancing with her husband. The world she describes suddenly is an intimate of two, not 20,000. Perhaps brought on by a confidence borne to her with maturity and recognition?

"No, I wouldn't call it a growth in self confidence, I was always confident," she says in a matter-of-fact manner. "I think that a part of me, growing up as a writer, really reacted to the confessional mode. I didn't want to write as a "me, me, me" writer. I wanted to get away from that because I felt that there had been so many voices who never been heard. If I could get into their voice, if I could give them voice, then I was doing something. Moreover a feeling of what happened to me was not so important - that's not a lack of self-confidence. It's a feeling that what happened to those 20,000 people (in the poem "Parsley") was more important than ... well, than writing about my liver!"

The 20,000 people she speaks of are in reference to the mass execution carried out by Rafael Trujillo, the dictator of the Dominican Republic in 1937. 20,000 Haitian blacks, who worked in cane fields with Dominicans, were killed in an act of 'ethnic cleansing'. She explains, "The Haitians spoke French Creole and could not roll their 'r's. So the 'r' sounds like an 'I'. Trujillo had all the cane workers pronounce perejil (Spanish for parsley) and those who could not pronounce it correctly - whoever said 'pelejil' instead of 'perejil' - were Haitian and so, executed. That he had them pronounce their own death sentence, the ultimate in cruelty, haunted me. That fueled my writing - more so than the 'look at me', 'my sad life', and 'my past' themes.

So there is tragedy in her past? 

"You know that Leo Tolstoy quote from Anna Karenina, 'Happy families are alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way '?" Well that does ring true," she says, seemingly deflecting from answering that specific question, perhaps unintentionally. "When we're happy, we really don't give a damn about analysing it. When you're happy you just want to be happy. What really engages our interest is when something sad happens. We want to work it out so that we can be happy again. It's about survival of the species so that makes it very difficult to write a poem for anyone which deals with the happier, celebratory aspect of life. People have a said of me that I write a lot of happy poems - in a accusatory manner. How can you have a happy poem? Well, you can."

As we walk out of the auditorium and the lights switch off in our wake, in a tone that can be best described as joyful, she says, "I was really happy to release American Smooth, it is filled with happy poems."




Writing Home

Lest the wolves loose their whistles
and shopkeepers inquire,
keep moving, though your knees flush
red as two chapped apples
keep moving, head up,
past the beggar's cold cup,
past the kiosk's
trumpet tales of
odyssey and heartbreak-
until, turning a corner, you stand,
staring: ambushed
by a window of canaries
bright as a thousand
golden narcissi.

Golden Oldie

I made it home early, only to get
stalled in the driveway-swaying
at the wheel like a blind pianist caught in a tune
meant for more than two hands playing .
The words were easy, crooned
by a young girl dying to feel alive, to discover
a pain majestic enough
to live by. I turned the air conditioning off,
leaned back to float on a film of sweat,
and listened to her sentiment:
Baby, where did our love go?-a lament
I greedily took in
without a clue who my lover
might be, or where to start looking.

All poetry published with permission of the writer, American Smooth is available in all good bookstores now.

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.