Green growth
JOYCE MA need not bolt the doors of her retail fortress yet. But it does seem that just outside the World of Joyce, another fashion empire is forming. The Shim family, two brothers and sisters who parlayed an exclusive licence to sell Doctor Martens shoes in Hong Kong into a considerable fortune, set up their first Green Peace boutique in 1988. Seven years later, the Causeway Bay boutique has grown into a mega flagship store in Sino Plaza, with four other Green Peace boutiques throughout the territory.
Known as the Junior Joyce, Green Peace has become a fashion mecca for the masses: Joyce style without the paralysing price tags. Green Peace lines its industrial, Soho loft-like environments with Katharine Hamnett, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Gigli as well as more accessible lines from up-and-coming European designers. (Incidentally, it also lines its stores with enough wood - pier-like plankings for stairs, expansive hardwood floors - to take out a considerable chunk of the Malaysian rain forest. More proof that ecology and fashion, an industry based on planned obsolescence, do not exactly mix.) The hottest items of the season? Satin shirts and ankle-length skirts by Isabel Marant; plastic jackets by Hamnett; tiny cap-sleeve T-shirts with fuzzy heart appliques by Gash.
The next move for the mounting Shim empire? The head of Green Peace marketing tells us another mega boutique in Pacific Place and a Green Peace quarterly magazine are both on the roster.
Pampered heaven IT'S been grandly dubbed the 'Clarins Universe' which sounds suspiciously like somebody working in public relations for the Clarins Beauty Institute has been sniffing the centre's herbal massage oils. But the 230 square-metre expanses of The Peninsula's new pamper central is indeed a stroke of celestial inspiration. Jacques Courtin-Clarins, founder of the line, flew into Hong Kong last week to officially open the institute's doors.
Nestled on the seventh floor of The Peninsula Tower, strolling distance from the tiled indoor pool, hot and cold baths, and the terraced sun deck, the institute is plumped with plush towels, lined with Italian marble, and brimming with Clarins skin care products. In short, it's gorgeous, sumptuous, and yes, a near cosmic experience.
Fashionspeak EVER wonder what bitchy vernacular the top fashion editors hiss from their vantage point at the side of the catwalk? The following fashion mots were overheard at the spring shows in Paris: A collection is difficult - when you can't tell the leg holes from the armholes; when it hasn't a hope of selling to anyone of any known body type.
A collection is directional - when it is visionary, cutting edge. This is the highest praise any designer can hope for.
A collection is wearable - when it suits those who do not have a model figure. When vocalised by the fashion victim, it's definitely an insult.
A collection is ugh! - when we're likely to see most of it on the sales racks this summer. Ugh! is the air kiss of death.
Kenzo tickets JAPANESE-born, Parisian designer Kenzo is due to hit Hong Kong mid-May. He's flying in an entourage of 18 international models for a series of 1995 Kenzo collection fashion shows. Want a peek? The Sunday Morning Post Magazine has 50 pair of tickets for a Kenzo catwalk on May 17. We'll give them to the first 50 readers who fax us at 2561-9363. And please, readers, don't forget your details.
