Style check: Vera Wang says she favours an androgynous style
A bevy of designers came to town last week, but it was Vera Wang who got up close and personal. The whippet-thin Wang attended an intimate lunch last Monday, decked-out in all black, oversized shades, a double-breasted waistcoat, slim fitting shorts, and staggering six-inch boots worthy of a dominatrix. You would never have guessed that she is in her early 60s.
Over lunch at Yolanda Choy-Tang's beautiful home, Wang opened up about her life, her family and the highs and lows of her industry. It was a glimpse of what drives one of the earliest internationally recognised Asian designers.
Wang bought a frankness to the conversation about balancing her career with her life, touching on subjects as diverse as sending her daughter to Harvard, her time as a figure skater, her stint as an editor at US Vogue, and how she set up her business "at the relatively older age of 40".
Her success story is an intriguing one, and she told it with that very American openness that often surprises people. The stories about dressing the Hollywood set - the move that really made her name in fashion - were a real insight into the power of those red carpet celebrity pictures.
Despite her name being associated with feminine gowns, both for red carpets and weddings, Wang says that her own style has been sharp and androgynous from the very beginning. "I love blacks, whites and greys," she says.
Revisit her ready-to-wear and you'll see that her femininity does, indeed, come with an edge. Sporty, sheers and sensual neatly sums up her spring 2014 collection, which was shown at New York Fashion Week.
Our meeting at close quarters was hosted by Choy-Tang and Audry Ai Morrow, the local partners for Vera Wang's highly successful wedding gown range, who also run Central Weddings, the go-to place for high-end wedding frocks. A celebration was in order: it was the first anniversary of the Vera Wang wedding store in SoHo.
They say there is no rest for the wicked, so folks in Hong Kong's fashion industry must have been very bad last week.
After Wang's lunch, several international designers arrived in the city for interviews and events. Humberto Leon and Carol Lim of Kenzo hosted a dinner at Galerie Perrotin to celebrate their renovated store in the Landmark.
Tory Burch made a flying visit and had a cocktail party, as did young London designer Simone Rocha (daughter of John Rocha). Remo Ruffini, creative director and owner of Moncler, hosted a star-studded dinner at the China Club with celebrities such as Karen Mok Man-wai.
The week seemed to peak with the Calvin Klein event to mark the worldwide debut of Calvin Klein's rebranded Platinum label, which was previously known as the CK Calvin Klein line.
International models were flown in for the catwalk show at Shaw Studios.