The Dictator

Birkin Bonanza, Sai Ying Pun

Not again. Visions of the Jelly Kelly fad from years ago have come back to haunt me. Well, they don't sell what you're looking for at the home of the authentic Birkin, Hermès (The Galleria, 9 Queen's Road Central, tel: 2525 5900), that's for sure. Let's get one thing straight: there's only one Birkin and it's made by Hermès in an array of luxury materials. But Leghila by Giovanna Dell'Onte (Harvey Nichols, The Landmark, Central, tel: 3695 3388) started receiving a lot of attention more than a year ago for its well-made handbags in neoprene, aka wetsuit material. You're probably thinking of the Italian brand's B-Bag (guess what the B stands for), which comes in two sizes (HK$3,200 to HK$4,600). Snap it up quickly, because it's no longer sold on www.leghila.com where it has been replaced by a fringed version called the Franzy. I wonder if that was motivated by creativity or litigation. For the cheap incarnation, venture into a street market. At BagOn (5 Li Yuen Street East, Central), for example, we spotted them in lime green or bright orange for only HK$199 each. There's a fine line between innovative homage and cheap rip-offs. You decide with your dollars.

Don't be ridiculous. Who sleeps in a bra and why? I'm no doctor, but I'm pretty sure that offers zero benefit and possibly some drawbacks. Anyway, do you know why there's no info about this line on the famous French designer's official website, www.guylaroche.com? Because it's exclusive to the Thai market for now. We contacted the brand, which told us: "Unfortunately at [this] time we have no point of sales in Hong Kong, but we are working on a distribution agreement. For the time being, our lingerie collection is only available in Thailand in all major department stores." You have too many choices in Hong Kong to waste any more time on this. I'm sure you've seen all the Calvin Klein Underwear shops (bras cost from HK$400 and up; www.cku.com). Triumph has a huge selection, from Sloggi basics to the fancy Essence line (HK$300 to HK$540; www.triumph.com/hk). Or head to Sogo (555 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay, tel: 2833 8338) for affordable brands. Of course, there are great lingerie boutiques, including Sheer (4/F, W Place, 52 Wyndham Street, Central, tel: 2147 3887; www.sheer.com.hk). Avec Amour (8/F, V Plus, 68 Wellington Street, Central, tel: 2978 3998; www.avecamour.com.hk) and many more.