Chanel Airport Terminal 2

As expected, the newspapers put their reports about the Chanel fashion event not in their fashion and lifestyle pages, but with the entertainment gossip.
At least, the United Daily News devoted two full pages with lots of pictures to the event, and not all the photos showed celebrities. Yes, Shu Qi was there wearing a black flowery dress which covered her only between shoulders and knees.
Black and white, the traditional Chanel combination, still dominated the new collection. Long white dresses with black edges and stuck-on white flowers - those flowers are something you see everywhere now from Miu Miu to young ladies' clothing in Bangkok shopping malls. There were black dresses with what looked like effigies of white branches, and white dresses with black branches. My award for prettiest dress goes to a taffeta number, in a bare-shoulder or double-strap version, black background, with pastel-colored embroidery going around in rings.
And the men? Never thought of Chanel as a men's fashion brand, but one model showed off a pair of blue trousers, a white shirt and a loose black jacked, another one wore what looked like a uniform from Napoleon's army.
What's next on Taipei's fashion calendar? Shiatzy Chen's latest offerings later this month, and the opening - at last - of that Gioia Pan store next to the Grand Formosa Regent. The black marble front is in place, and through the windows you can spot the folks hard at work getting the interior ready. And the next time I pass by Warner Village, I need to go and check out the Martin Margiela store. The Belgian designer has turned a fast food joint into a sumptuous white boutique.