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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.