passion is in fashion

How interestingly communist is it that WordPress was blocked in China?  Little brushes with government censorship was all part of the charm!

Just returned from a super-long business trip to Shanghai.  In one week I have stressed, aged, labored, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  We ran a booth at the Intertextile tradeshow.  It was our first time putting up a booth at any tradeshow in Asia, and thus promised to be full of adventure and surprises (mostly of the unpleasant kind.)

1) Sheer size

Effing huge.  Ten halls opened concurrently.  Allegedly turning on the air conditioning for one day costs 1 million RMB.  The organizer expected 1 million visitors to come through, and I believe them!  Going hand in hand with sheer size, there was truly interesting diversity in both exhibitors and visitors.  I met people from Russia, Egypt, remote parts of China… switching flawlessly between Mandarin, Cantonese, and English was all part of the game.  I will have to say my favorite visitor was the British Victoria’s Secret designer.  I chased him down as soon as I saw his namecard dangling in his clear visitor badge holder.   He revealed to me how bras basically makes Victoria’s Secret what it is, and that the Dream Angels collection is the best one out of them all because of the patented foam technology.  To which I responded: “yes I know, I’m wearing it right now.”

2) Hall 2 v. Hall 5

We were placed in Hall 2 in the “Other” category… smack together with the textile companies.  (Rather unfortunate categorization!)  This made sense though, since most of our prospective clients at the show were such textile companies.  One day, in search of lunch, I wandered down to Hall 4 (accessories and trims), then to Hall 5 (machinery).  Hall 4 was not dramatically different, but had a slightly higher sprinkling of designers and owners themselves manning the booths.  I stopped by a booth called Yvonne who made cute trims and embroidery.  Yvonne, the owner/designer, stuffed me with a similarly cute calender and post-its in the shape of cows.  Promotional materials, Yvonne-style.    Hall 5, however, was a culture shock!  Textile machinery was heavily German-dominant.  The booths were huge, sometimes with model machinery present.  The exhibitors were ultra German: indistinguishable tall men in suits.  I ran out because I felt undressed… and short.

3) The battle that was lunch

What is interesting about millions of people congregating at the expo is that it creates little temporary self-sufficient economy.  There was a Family Mart for each hall, selling everything from extension cords to steamed buns.  Family Marts in the more central halls usually sold out of everything by the afternoon, which meant if you wanted a drink you needed to walk over to Hall 5, to the Germans.  As for food, McDonald’s set up at the end of the expo (to entice visitors to explore?)  It did not have a kitchen, instead trucked everything in.  Only one meal was available, which was soggy chicken nuggets, curry chicken sandwich, and soda poured from 1 liter bottles.  (Weird!  But we were in no position to complain.)  It sold out daily before 1pm.  All in all, the expo economy was very much like Soviet Russia.

4) Stint as beer girl

On the last day I had the delightful task of walking around and handing out the last of our brochures to random exhibitors.  I was not especially provocatively dressed, nor particularly heavy on makeup.  Yet, most automatically assumed I was a kind of promotional beer girl.  I was hit on, asked out, and requested to have photographs taken with, all in rapid successions.  Never.  Again.

5) Green massage

Super gratifying of the entire experience was making it to Green Massage twice.  It is an upscale massage place in Xintiandi, conveniently located right next to Bellagio.  The Oriental Oil massage was the best of my life!  It was quite fun.  Slippery oily slick.  Don’t worry though, the oil absorbed quickly so I was fully presentable to society within minutes it was over.  The Chinese massage was rather painful but good for me, I think?  No pain no gain.

http://www.greenmassage.com.cn/

Fascinating article about Carine Roitfeld in NY Mag

Highlights:

So much of the fashion world is about negotiating insecurity—exploiting it enough to make you want to buy things, but still nurturing, to keep you close. But Carine Roitfeld is like the industry’s X factor: Fashion does not, could not, make her insecure. Fashion is the place in the world where Roitfeld is most comfortable and at home. In Roitfeld’s world, models are never too skinny, diamonds are never too expensive.

The stiletto-mania of the nineties owes as much to Carine Roitfeld as it does to Candace Bushnell. “I do not like comfortable,” Roitfeld says. She has outlawed sneakers and what she calls “Hugg boots” in her office because “they are hugly.” The line Roitfeld has always been best at navigating is the line between provocative and vulgar.

“I like not to shock,” she says, “but there must be a bit of provocation. The girl can never be with bruise or violence, but there must be sex.”

“A scale. So people always say that I weigh my staff, and it is totally wrong. All my girls are very skinny and very chic and very beautiful. And if they are not beautiful, well, then they are very charming. So people always say that I weigh them, but no. I don’t weigh my girls.”

Perhaps it is because I am tall. Perhaps it is because I wear clothes with less than three ruffled flowers on it at any given time. Perhaps it is because my face is distinctively not Cantonese. Maybe in the end, it is simply probability. I walk into any luxury goods boutique, and the salesperson instantly approaches me in Mandarin.

And that is the general trend here in Hong Kong. Mainland Chinese flock to Hong Kong to buy up the Rolex’s and Chanel 2.55′s like it is going out of style. I remember when I walked into Gucci back in Chinese New Year holidays, and the shelves were literally empty and everything was out of stock. (Not unlike a Russian grocery store during the Cold War?) Right now it’s the so-called Golden Week in celebration of National Day, and China-HK shopping trips are in full bloom.

Today after adequately caffeinating myself, I wandered into Chanel to gawk at the black caviar bag I desire. I was literally surrounded by poorly-dressed Mandarin-speaking tourists. The salespeople were running around tending to shoppers, not one free to offer gratuitous help. Well, only in HK… would one never find one idle Chanel sales associate ready to give you the most snobby and condescending look.

Some of the scenes I saw in there were truly atrocious. May I just say, the classic Chanel flap should never be worn with a graphic tshirt, baggy army green pants in some kind of performance fabric, and Teva-style tourist sandals? There is a time and occasion for those items, and that time is usually, um, never.

And so, I bravely competed with the other women to try on bags. Am loving the classic black caviar flap *so much*. I cannot decide on size. The jumbo is more appropriate for day wear, while the medium is better for a day-to-night look (no need to check my bag in at clubs!) I already have a white medium flap which I adore (thanks honey!), but am finding it a little too small for day. It fits my phone, Blackberry, lipgloss, some cash, and that’s it. These are all the essentials that I carry everyday anyway, but the extra space gives me a little feeling of comfort when I am running around for work in the New Territories.

Chanel Classic Flap

Image from Chanel.com