Paul Smith, here we come!

My Taiwanese wife likes clothes with colorful lines, so it's no surprise to hear that her favorite designer is ... Missoni. I have no data about their sales in Taiwan, but they seem to have been on a downward slide. One store here in Taipei, on Kuangfu South Road, closed last year. There's still one next to the Formosa Regent, in an alley off Chungshan North Road, but my wife says she bought a dress there once which was not a true Missoni, more an imitation - which is not the same as a counterfeit, but still. And then Taipei 101 has a Missoni Sport boutique, with similar scarves, dresses, knits and sweaters, but a reputation that was damaged when police found a credit card scam run by people at Missoni Sport and the nearby Aquascutum.

So while my wife is still a fan of Missoni-style designs, she's been broadening her horizons lately. While passing through Beijing recently, she noticed the flashy shirts and bags at one boutique inside Wangfujing's Oriental Plaza. The brand: Paul Smith. She wanted to know whether Taipei offered this designer, not having seen any Paul Smith boutiques around Taipei 101, Sogo, the Regent or any other frequent shopping destination. Well, she must have overlooked one shoppers' paradise: the Breeze Center seems to be the home to the only Paul Smith store in Taipei, and maybe in all of Taiwan. So that's where we'll be spending at least part of our post-typhoon Saturday night.