Vivienne Westwood and the others

So yes I went to the Vivienne Westwood exhibition in Taipei and it was well worth it. A bit surprised though that the emphasis was more on the recent Westwood, and not so much on the early punk period she's so famous for. The ripped T-shirts and clothes with chains and needles were there, but they were only a bit player in the event. The museum obviously showed off Westwood's "Britishness," with a lot of the more recent items emphasizing her use of history and traditions, think Scottish tartans, ballroom dresses, and clothes her Ladyship would wear while his Lordship was out foxhunting. One hat was a bird's nest made of branches with a complete bird standing over it. All in all, quite a worthwhile, and heavily visited exhibition. Next, I would like to see the Italians coming to Taipei, say Giorgio Armani and Prada.
Talking of fashion exhibitions, on a television show here I just found out that Salvatore Ferragamo has a neat little museum in Florence. So if you're on holiday in Italy soon, don't forget, take some time out or convince your tour guide to take you to that museum.

In other fashion news, the media here were all agog recently about a 398,000 New Taiwan dollar bag. That's about 12,000 US dollars. It's not a Louis Vuitton or a Gucci, not even a Birkin bag or a motorcycle bag, and it doesn't carry any obvious logos. According to the September 15 China Times Express, it's a black German-made "Comtesse" bag in crocodile leather. In its first year on the Taiwan market, 50 bags were sold. The bags will soon be on sale at the Far Eastern Plaza's mall.

Last week's Style supplement in the Taipei Times reported on Marc Jacobs' new works at the New York Fashion Week, and closer to home, on Isabelle Wen's Autumn/Winter 2005 collection. Susan Kendzulak wrote the "Bang! Bang!" collection had an early 1960s feel, with combinations of brown with purple, and deep greens and browns are the dominant colors. As on view in her boutiques, many of her designs have a New Bohemian, neo-hippie look about them.

This afternoon I will be again touring the usual fashion malls and taking the look to see how the soon-to-be-opened stores are progressing. According to the United Evening News, the Mitsukoshi A4 - that's the one just north of the A8, A9 and A11, yes, close to Warner Village - will differentiate itself from its pack of neighbors by targeting the 20-to-40 female demographic. On the first floor, you can already see the posters heralding Coach, Tod's, Salvatore Ferragamo and Balenciaga, but apparently a total of 277 brands of clothing and cosmetics will be on offer.
For no reason I understand, I received an e-mail inviting me to the party for the launch of actress Vivica A. Fox's - she was in Independence Day ID4 and in Kill Bill - new magazine - in New York. Thanks for the invite, but I'm nowhere near New York anytime soon. The magazine is called "Jolie," so Angelina will have to look for another name if she ever publishes a magazine. And finally, thanks to Esprit's Roxanne Chiu for sending me her business card after the show I wrote about last time.