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.