Armani Goes Shanghai

Giorgio Armani is taking the retrospective about his 30 years in the business to Shanghai, China's capital of style. More than 400 pieces of clothing and drawings will be on show at the Shanghai Fine Arts Museum starting this Sunday, and lasting until May 3. The Chinese city will be the final stage for a world tour of the exhibition.
Too bad, Taipei, with its wealthy buyers and stylish fashionistas and brandcrazy young ladies would also have been a great destination for the Maestro's show. Maybe we should call on Kenneth Yen, the chief of Yulon Motors, Carnival clothing and the new representative for Armani in Taiwan, to use his influence and get the show over here, maybe at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum or the Museum of Contemporary Arts. He could use a fleet of his own company's cars to ferry the guests to the opening gala, thus killing two birds with one stone.

Louis Vuitton Goes Heavy

Heavy old trunks are a must at each opening of a new Louis Vuitton store. Now the company has thrown some of its classic luggage together in an exhibition at Taipei 101. Don't expect a major arts and design event, the whole show only includes 18 pieces and fits in nicely inbetween the tables and tea rooms on the shopping mall's 4th floor, in front of the Page One bookstore.
The objects start chronologically with a piece of heavy luggage dating back to 1854, and also include a chest with six drawers for the real explorer, a soft bag especially designed for family member Gaston Louis Vuitton, and an explanation of the company's ingenuous lock system. If, unlike the mere mortal I am, you are wealthy enough to afford having a piece of luggage made to your specifications, company representatives will be on hand to take down notes. Just don't touch the objects, they're not yours ... yet.
The show started off yesterday, and will only remain until April 9.

Showtime (2)

We're in the middle of Taipei 101's week of fashion shows now. Every afternoon, some of the brands that populate the glitzy shopping mall put on a show for the limited few on the 4th floor plaza, but if you haven't been invited, you can still get a view by hanging around on the 5th floor, even if the view is a whole lot less. In the meantime, the building's management has also been rethinking the layout, with some of the biggest names, such as Chanel, Fendi and Versace likely to move in.
Fashion celebrities visiting Taiwan usually get short shrift on Taiwan's half dozen TV news stations, who are more interested in South Korean soap stars and local entertainers - by lack of a better word - buying new luxury apartments. The newspapers though still pay attention, even if it's after the fact. The United Daily News recently profiled the visit by James Ferragamo, Salvatore's successor. The chief of women's accessories at the Italian house was in town to present the Fiera series of handbags. The bags indeed look fiery, with lots of confusing color patterns, mixed in with wild animals - a different one for each of the nine bags - and a prominent horsebit logo. Prices range from around 19,000 to 46,500 New Taiwan dollars, roughly US$ 550 to 1,500.
Turning to a local brand, you've probably seen the Carnival stores, they're usually rather drudgy, conservative places selling mostly dark blue and grey suits. A couple of years ago, the company was bought by Kenneth Yen, the main man at Taiwan's largest car group, Yulon. Yen is well-known for his smart tastes in clothing, and now he's finally bringing some of that class to his own company. Yen bought the local distribution rights for Giorgio Armani, and is now positioning Carnival for a younger and more stylish public than technocrats. And just like a real international brand, Carnival will also launch a 'flagship store,' by converting an existing store on Fuhsing South Road.

ShawnYi in Taipei

It's getting crowded on the south side of the Grand Formosa Regent Hotel in Taipei. I just mentioned the new Gioia Pan and Sonia Rykiel in my previous posting, there's Dunhill, Marc Jacobs, Missoni, Aquascutum, and now, I just noticed that Coneco pleats is going to be replaced next month by a ShawnYi flagship store.
The unusual thing about this Taiwanese outfit is that the two designers actually work out of Paris, and this is as far as I know, their first major shop in their native country. They decided that the way to get big in fashion is not to stay here, but to head for the world capital of fashion and try to make it there first. It's a bit like Ang Lee going to the States to direct Taiwanese movies.
By the way, if you think you've heard that story before but the brand's name doesn't sound familiar, that's because they used to be known as YufengShawn. Maybe they thought that was too long, complicated and Chinese for Western ears, so they changed it to ShawnYi. Still Chinese, luckily, but a lot shorter. We wish the duo luck and will give you an update when the store opens.
The previous occupant, Coneco, as I said earlier, was specialized in pleats, but the shop never looked busy, not even after one major redecorating job. Pleats will remain the terrain of Issey Miyake, I suppose. Talking of Issey, he's got a boutique at the Taipei 101, and that's the scene for a series of fashion shows beginning on March 18, this coming Saturday.

Showtime

As department stores complain of meagre sales over the past weeks, Taipei 101 is back with a new series of fashion shows. I remember enjoying last year's Esprit show, well, this month, beginning on March 18, the world's tallest building will host the latest fashions from designer names like Etro, Dolce & Gabbana, Kenzo, Aubade and others, not coincidentally all owners of boutiques inside the mall. The last time I went, Etro was redesigning its store.
Talking of constructions and openings, the alley on the southside of the Grand Formosa Regent is active again. Coneco, a local producer of pleats reminiscent of Issey Miyake, has closed, but next door Sonia Rykiel and - at last - Gioia Pan have opened their boutiques. Sonia Rykiel is full of rather glitzy, bling-bling style handbags, while Taiwan's Gioia Pan offers cream white and black dresses. Adidas has opened a new flagship store, and work on the Louis Vuitton on Chungshan North Road is continuing. They pulled off the huge ads a couple of days ago, revealing complete bare structures without any walls, but now Gisele Bundchen and her yellow Monogram Suede are back up, so we still have to wait a couple of months.
Taiwan's prime design brand Shiatzy Chen - which has its main store just next door to that future LV temple - is holding sales with discounts of up to 80 percent each day from 11:30 am to 9:30 pm at the Howard Plaza until March 14, that's next Tuesday, so the United Daily News tells us.