And Tod's it was

Just this posting to confirm that yes, it was the new Tod's boutique opening that Michelle Yeoh attended in Taipei yesterday. She bought an item for her father's birthday in Malaysia today. On TV I saw her standing next to Diego della Valle, the founder and CEO of Tod's, who had come over especially from Italy for the opening. Despite this quite rare appearance, the media here barely put in a word about him, and I haven't seen any interviews so far. If it were the chief of an electronics firm or a car company, I'm sure all the papers would've had the story, but fashion is not - or not yet - on the radar of most business writers here.
The fashion section in the Taiwan News today dwells on the opening of the Louis Vuitton store in Paris, on the lack of major trends at the Spring/Summer 2006 shows in the same town, and on Victoire de Castellane's miniature designs for Dior's jewelry division.
The United Daily News presents a new pair of shades from Louis Vuitton, and heralds the start of the sales season on Taipei's east side: New York New York, which includes a prominent Armani Exchange, begins on October 20, while the Mitsukoshi department stores and Taipei 101 wait until the following weekend.
The Liberty Times, a Chinese-language newspaper I rarely look at, devoted one page to Gioia Pan, the queen of Taiwanese knitwear. The paper shows off lots of black-and-white dresses, with one color dominating and the other present at the edges, as well as jewelry and brown knit bags with a floral design. Pan's works are for sale at Taipei 101, but her new store next to the Grand Formosa Regent is still not ready, though I've been seeing signs of increasing activity there. Maybe when I return from my Thai trip, it'll be up and going.

Michelle Yeoh and Tod's

Malaysian-Chinese superstar and former Bond woman Michelle Yeoh is visiting Taiwan. Not much of a novelty, since she spends most of her time just across the water in Hong Kong, but this time she's here for fashion.
Yeoh, who's working on director Danny Boyle's new movie "Sunshine" with "Red Eye" star Cillian Murphy, is here to attend the opening of a fashion store. The media so far have been rather silent about what shop we're talking about, but in the papers this morning, I noted a fullpage ad for the official opening of a Tod's boutique at the Mitsukoshi A4, yes, that one again, so ...
Yeoh is an action star but also an established power in the Asian film industry, so having her at your store's opening is surely a sign of class and influence. Maybe the papers will have pictures of her tomorrow, revealing if my guess is the right one.
After a week of relative activity on this blog, I'm afraid I'll be quiet for the next couple of weeks or so, because of a trip to the city that wants to be the capital of Asian fashion - Bangkok. I might not have too much time for fashion exploration and even less to post on my blog, but maybe next month. Until then.

Taiwan's Modern Girls

If you are in Taiwan, you've certainly seen the ads showing model Lin Chia-chi wearing the red flamenco dress with her bra bursting out at the top. The ad is for Mode Marie, the brand of bra with the third largest market share on the island.
The chairman's three daughters are now ready to take on the underwear market with their own brand, Modern Girl, today's United Evening News reports.
Huang Ting-shou originally made shoes for Nike and Adidas before setting up Mode Marie with his wife ten years ago. Their three daughters are now launching the Modern Girl brand aiming at 20 to 35-year-olds.
The eldest, Huang Ya-fen, is 31, studied sales management in Illinois, and is in charge of general planning at the group. Ya-huei, 30, is also involved in management, while the youngest, Yu-ju, 22, oversees the design work because she's a shopper.
Unfortunately, that's about as far as the newspaper article ventures, and we learn nothing about their plans, design preferences or inspiration. Maybe I'll just have to send a spy out to a store where they sell their products to find out.

Louis Vuitton, Paris

The news of last weekend's opening of the new Louis Vuitton store in its capital, Paris, has also reached Taiwan. The United Daily News today has a fullpage report with lots of pictures. Apparently, 200 Taiwanese were invited to the VIP opening, quite a high number if you consider the size of this 23-million island. The paper includes pictures of Uma Thurman, who also graces the still-being-reconstructed Louis Vuitton flagship store on Taipei's Chungshan North Road, and Taiwanese movie star Shu Qi.
The article also listed a number of products exclusively on sale for the shop's launch, such as miniature monogram bags, shoes for 3-to-5-year-olds, and 20 watches showing the Eiffel Tower.
And just in case you're passing through Paris soon, the address: 101, Champs Elysees.

From the Taiwan News to the new Gucci

The Taiwan News Saturday fashion pages were quite an interesting read today. Remember how the latest Brand magazine is full of handbags, and how the Asian Wall Street Journal devoted a long article to Celine's new bag designer? Well, the Taiwan News can't stay behind. It has a piece from the New York Times about how expensive handbags have become the new status symbol. A couple of years ago you had to wear Manolo Blahniks or Jimmy Choos, now you just have to have the right handbag, it doesn't matter anymore whether you're wearing jeans and cowboy boots, an expensive bag corrects that, the paper says. The article lists the Sofia bag by Marc Jacobs, the Fendi Spy bag in tulle, and the denim version of Louis Vuitton's Speedy as some of this year's popular choices.
The Taiwan News then also looks at the new collections Spring/Summer 2006 - yes, we're that far ahead - by Stella McCartney, by Ivana Omazic for Celine, and by John Galliano for Christian Dior. Galliano's new style is "nude," that means transparent, skin-colored, light and thin dresses and skirts. And finally, the paper looks ahead to Japan's fashion week in Tokyo next week. The major star there is expected to be Toshikazu Iwaya - the king of Japanese hiphop fashions - and his brand Dress Camp.
On a completely different note, after work today I rushed around a couple of shopping centers, on the lookout for books and food actually. First of all, I noticed that the new Gucci boutique at the Breeze Center is open now. It's a large and roomy place, with pictures of Gucci products and Gucci artisans at work. I also briefly passed through Taipei 101, where I noticed how Etro are looking more and more like Missoni, and where I saw nice bags from Prada.
This weekend is a three-day holiday weekend in Taiwan, so I'll have more time to spin around the next two days. Coffee rooms and book stores will be my major destinations, but I also could take in some fashion on the way.

Brand in October: Givenchy and Bags, Bags, Bags

As I have done in previous months, I also owe you a description of the October edition of Taiwan's Brand magazine. The top two themes are bags, a hundred of them, and Givenchy, which paid for a booklet insert to present its history and its full range of products.
First, the fashion profiles: Brand comes up with yes, Givenchy, and their two designers, Ozwald Boateng for men and Riccardo Tisci for women. The extra booklet goes mainly for the bags, but also features wallets and belts. Even though I am not crazy about loud logos, my favorite here is the gray logo design, four black G's on a gray background.
The main magazine also features Antonio Marras and his flowery work at Kenzo, Jimmy Choo with main designer Sandra Choi who's British-Hong Kong, and jewelry Mauboussin, which has taken Taiwanese star Shu Qi as its Asian face.
After reading the designers' profiles, I went for a report on the outlet town of Bicester in Britain's Oxforshire.
And then there are the bags. There's a description of the Chanel 2.55, its history which started in February 1955 - whence the name - and its present reincarnation. There's a list of new items, with the metallic bags taking the place of honor. My prize for the most outrageous bag goes to an Anya Hindmarch creation, a turquoise item with the text 'Women and Chocolate - Dr. Harold Praline' and the picture of a woman's hand reaching out for chocolates. No, I'm not kidding, the bag really looks like that.
My favorite bags in this month's issue include the black Prada one with the red flowers and the Chinese knit knot (yes) stuck on top. Giorgio Armani, not precisely known for its bags, has a luxurious item: black, with two white embroidered flowers, and a black horse tail dangling from each end. No price mentioned. Snake and crocodile skins are widely featured, and there are the usual logos, and a black-on-white version of Loewe's Amazona.
Giorgio Armani by the way, also has one of the more extravagant bags. A number that looks like it just fell into a vat of raspberry jam. Also red, but a lot more tasteful, a small bag to put your change in from Miu Miu, with a brown flower and green leaves reducing the effect of the red. The report also has four pages of metallic bags, the big new wave this autumn.
The magazine is not heavy on real news, but it has this short item: Taiwan's designer duo of Stephane Dou and Changlee Yugin are going to launch a series of glasses in December. In the meantime, you're welcome to check out their boutique Wu:m in the alley off Chungshan North Road Section 2 next to the Spot Film House, the old U.S. embassy.
This weekend is National Day weekend in Taiwan, and October is sales month, so the department stores are certain to be packed. I'll pass by over the next few days, though I also have a food project going, preparing European desserts at home, but that's story that belongs on a future blog.

Bagman for Celine

This weekend's edition of the Asian Wall Street Journal has a profile of Celine's new chief bag designer, Guido Boragno.
The German of Italian origin has launched one major new product for the French LVMH-owned fashion house, the doctor's bag, officially named the Dorine.
The article also describes on the way how accessories and handbags in particular are now the main moneyspinners for fashion labels, with profit margins higher than clothing. The accessories are also where the highest demand is for new talents, so Journal writer Cecilie Rohwedder says that is the way to go for newly graduated designers.
Back to Boragno, the designer first worked for the Prada Group where he also designed Jil Sander bags before joining Celine last year. His Dorine should be Celine's first hit since the Boogie bag brought by Michael Kors.
The Journal article also describes the working process at Celine's, where bags go from first sketch to finished product in three months.

Time with Tom Ford

No, I'm not moving out there in the stratosphere of the world's top designers and spending some time with Tom.
All I meant was that Time's twice-a-year style and fashion supplement is out there with the Asian edition of the magazine this week, and includes Tom's apparent first interview since his departure from Gucci. And an unhappy departure it was, it seems. In the interview, Tom describes it as a crisis taking him to the end of his self-confidence. It's a bit like what Pierce Brosnan might have felt after being thrown out of the James Bond factory. But now Tom has recovered, though he's not really letting on what his big project is, if he has one.
OK, we know he worked on movie plans. He tells Time he's written a script that's partly autobiographical, and he used to be a good writer before he turned into a fashion hero. Nevertheless, another writer is still working on his script right now. Not sure if that's a rewrite or a ghost writer doing the hard work, but let's hope the guy or girl gets a credit for that.
On the fashion front, we also know already that he signed a deal with Estee Lauder to work on fragrances. Tom says he's very much into perfumes, deodorants, cosmetics, and so on, and has absolutely enough of women's ready-to-wear clothing. So we won't see any of that with Tom Ford's name on it soon.
The special Time supplement also provides profiles of influential 'brokers' in the fashion world, and many of them turn out to be the latest generation of famous designer dynasties, like Margarita Missoni. Another topic in the magazine is the widespread use of chains and other metal gear on the latest handbags and accessories.
The latest Time supplement is available with the Time Asia edition that has the environmental causes for Hurricane Katrina on its cover. And talking of magazines, I went hunting today for the October edition of Taiwan's Brand magazine, but that doesn't seem to be available yet. I'll keep you posted.

Afour

Yes, the Mitsukoshi A4 on Taipei's east side is officially open now, and I went for a quick visit before this weekend's typhoon hit.
I must say, the part that impressed me the most was the floor that had nothing to do with fashions and clothes: the underground food hall, with its colorful Spanish and Italian products.
But let's get back to fashion. Yes, the brands I mentioned before are housed on the first floor, Balenciaga, Salvatore Ferragamo, Tod's, aslo Marc Jacobs, Sonya Rykiel and Anya Hindmarch. In the middle of the first floor hall, you have all the usual cosmetics brands.
The second floor runs from Ralph Lauren to agnes b. and has a lonely Haagen Dazs tucked away in a corner like there wasn't any space left in the food hall, it had to emigrate to the fashion section. The higher you go in the building, the less famous the brands get.
So all in all, while the department store is glitzy, bright and clean, its content could've been more exciting. In the end, the Mitsukoshi A4 is just another department store, and not much different from say, the Idee on Nanjing West Road. I noticed there's another plot of land nearby marked A13. Room for another Mitsukoshi? Anyway, one construction project by the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi people in the area is not a department store, but an international hotel.
As the A4 opens, the other major shopping heavens in Taipei are not sitting still, as October 1 marks the start of a month-long sales period. Most stores offer you goodies if you spend a certain amount, and often it's money, like 300 New Taiwan dollars if you spend 3,000, 500 if you spend 5,000, and so on.
We're still looking out for the new Louis Vuitton on Chungshan North Road and the Gioia Pan boutique next to the Grand Formosa Regent, but they both seem to be taking more time to complete than expected.