Home>News Center>Life
             
     

    The cool-edged chic of a new Hong Kong
    (Agencies)
    Updated: 2004-11-30 11:16

    Let's call her Sarah Jessica Woo. She's a new breed of young Chinese women, post Tai-Tai, post logos, with her own eclectic spirit.
    .
    Whether or not Hong Kong's 20-somethings owe anything to "Sex and the City" and the imaginative way its star, Sarah Jessica Parker, put her look together, there is a definite change in the way that fashion is perceived in a city that was once a by-word for putting on the Ritz.
    .
    The Christmas tree in Statue Square reaches for the sky, visitors are already wandering the kitsch Mistletoe Boulevard and the hotels are packed with pre-holiday revelers. But for all of Hong Kong's glitter and glamour, when it comes to fashion, it is the beginning of a new era. The Tai-Tais who espoused designer glamour are now challenged by young women whose look is still aspirational and put together, but has a more cool-edged chic.
    .
    You can count the designer bags as you stroll the walkways through the Central District's shopping meccas, from Alexandra House through the Landmark mall: Gucci's hobo, Louis Vuitton's Takashi Murakami graphics, Fendi's shoulder baguette, Dior's dice trimmings. These aren't presented with the trophy wives' head-to-toe outfits, but with jeans or denim skirts, fancy T-shirts, lightweight leather jackets and that laid-black chic of pretty top and well-cut pants that is the image of the Chloe girl.
    .
    One Juicy Couture bag photographed on a Hong Kong street summed up the trend: "Lighten up – be juicy," it read.
    .
    Adrienne Ma, managing director of Joyce Boutique Holdings, has charted the changes since her mother, Joyce Ma, brought designer brands to Hong Kong a quarter of a century ago.
    .
    "Fashion is so accessible now," Ma says. "Lifestyles have changed and preferences have changed. In the 1970s, the Tai-Tais had to be quite wealthy to afford high fashion. It was truly niche. Now there is Zara, Esprit, Mango and H&M. Information is much more accessible and many more brands are shouting at the same time. The new customer is more sophisticated and the world is much smaller."
    .
    Ma describes the new Hong Kong consumer as "still very brand conscious," likely to be wearing $500 Hermès jeans and carrying a bag that could be an unusual piece rather than just big brand.
    .
    Jennifer Woo, president of Lane Crawford, agrees that there is a new consumer who is bucking some of the trends. "We were sitting in the store's restaurant for Saturday brunch and we saw people coming in that we have never seen before," Wood says of the restaurant looking over Victoria Harbour at the new Lane Crawford store in the International Finance Center, where Zara has a prominent position.
    .
    "We have a new target customer that I don't think anyone has addressed," Woo says. "She will mix Chloe with designer jeans. You can't define her by demographics. She knows Bergdorf Goodman and Barneys. She is global."
    .
    Phoebe Philo, an English-born designer at Chloe, defines this 21st-century look: "I do think that I relate to a worldwide breed of women. I don't know women who wear trousers/shirts to work. The women we dress and who come to Chloe don't have uniforms: a work wardrobe and a weekend wardrobe. Modern living doesn't require that strictness any more. Young women feel confident and empowered by their own judgment and awareness of fashion and what they like. They make their own choices to create a more personal style."
    .
    Whether it is the result of actual travel or virtual knowledge acquired from magazines and the Internet, the Hong Kong woman is leaving the Chinese consumer far behind.
    .
    "With the mainland Chinese, it really does take time," says Ma. "With money they can buy fashion and luxury, but they cannot buy style and class." Those subtle qualities, she says, are what her store aims to provide.
    .
    But whatever the style of the fashionable pan-Asian woman, there is one accessory she cannot live without: A state-of-the-art telephone, pinned permanently to the ear - when it is not being used to photograph friends or check for e-mail. 



    Maggie Cheung attends 'Clean' HK premiere
    Shark lays eggs in Nanchang aquarium
    Ice beauty Faye Wong sings in Taipei
      Today's Top News     Top Life News
     

    ASEAN tariff-cut pact steps toward free trade

     

       
     

    Three-way dialogue goes win-win

     

       
     

    "Income gap" tops senior officials' concerns

     

       
     

    Al Qaeda's Zawahri says will keep fighting US

     

       
     

    Death toll rises to 50 in Shaanxi mine blast

     

       
     

    Half Chinese not feel "close" with Japanese

     

       
      Diana tapes suggest lover 'bumped off'
       
      China AIDS cases rising by 40 percent a year
       
      Late night sex discussions for China's TV
       
      Chinese couples: Till divorce do us part
       
      Hong Kong lives in the lap of luxury
       
      Sprinting hero clears up distortion in autobiography
       
     
      Go to Another Section  
     
     
      Story Tools  
       
      Feature  
      HK veteran songwriter James Wong passed away at 64  
    Advertisement
             
    线中文在线资源 官网| 潮喷失禁大喷水aⅴ无码| 无码人妻精品一区二| 亚洲欧洲美洲无码精品VA| 综合无码一区二区三区| 无码人妻久久一区二区三区免费丨| 久久精品aⅴ无码中文字字幕不卡 久久精品人妻中文系列 | 狠狠精品久久久无码中文字幕| 中文字幕乱妇无码AV在线| 亚洲中文字幕无码一久久区| 成人无码区免费A∨直播| 惠民福利中文字幕人妻无码乱精品| 韩国19禁无遮挡啪啪无码网站| A狠狠久久蜜臀婷色中文网| 蜜臀AV无码国产精品色午夜麻豆 | 最新国产AV无码专区亚洲| 天堂√中文最新版在线下载| 无码毛片一区二区三区中文字幕 | 人妻丰满熟妇AV无码区乱| 日日日日做夜夜夜夜无码| 日韩欧美中文在线| 中文字幕免费不卡二区| 日韩精品无码人妻一区二区三区| 无码伊人66久久大杳蕉网站谷歌| 久久久久精品国产亚洲AV无码| 最近中文字幕在线| 天堂在/线中文在线资源官网| 亚洲乱码中文字幕久久孕妇黑人| 免费无码黄十八禁网站在线观看| 国产AV无码专区亚洲AV毛网站 | 精品久久久久久无码中文字幕 | 一级毛片中出无码| 亚洲人成无码久久电影网站| 无码免费又爽又高潮喷水的视频 | 免费VA在线观看无码| 国产精品无码免费播放| 国产强伦姧在线观看无码| 久久久精品无码专区不卡| 老子影院午夜精品无码| 天堂在线最新版资源www中文| 中文日韩亚洲欧美字幕|