The rich - like, seriously rich - are being courted by Donald Trump (left) and his front men in a bid to lure them towards the mother of all casinos, the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. In a couple of weeks time a secret clique of affluent Asians - or 'low key spenders' - will jet out of Hong Kong to try its luck at the gaming tables of the Taj Mahal. They will be fown to Atlantic City first-class, courtesy of the Donald, be put up for four nights at the Taj Mahal and be wined and dined into the bargain. Here's the catch: they must spend a minimum of three hours each day in the casino, each with a minimum credit line of US$50,000. It sounds intimidating but organisers say their Asian guests can win more than that during a healthy round of blackjack. Even if the jet-set gamblers do pick up a few extra thousand dollars at the roulette table, it is likely to be frittered away during the second leg of the trip: organisers have promised to drop them off in Milan for a spot of shopping. The mega-bucks junket includes visits to factory outlets for designer fashion - all at bargain prices. RENTA CROWD Forget the girlie fashion shows: it was the boys' turn to come out and play at a fashion-show luncheon staged by dapper couturier Oscar de la Renta at Quo Quo. Cashmere coats were snapped up quick smart while one well-known local garmento bought $60,000-worth of suits even before the coffee cups were cleared. Pop star Nat Chan and opera singer Warren Mok were there as was man-about-town Cecil Chao who raced ahead in the sartorial stakes by snapping up a couple of spiffy coats. But the fashion police are still after those rose-coloured aviator shades. THE BRITISH ARE COMING THE British fashion industry, long perceived to be swinging erratically between dull and frumpy and wild and whacky, will have a chance to clear its name once and for all at a major Hong Kong Fashion Week extravaganza scheduled to take place in January. Designer Thomas Starzewski will stage a catwalk show for the event along with menswear label Byrne and accessory-designer Emma Hope. Starzewski, known for his formal, tailored suits and bejewelled buttons, is sure to go down a storm with Hong Kong women. Former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, who wore one of them at her 70th birthday bash recently, and Princess Di are two famous customers. A glam contingent of savvy London fashion people flying into the territory for the show will include Mary Quant, Anna Harvey (fashion director of British Vogue) and John Miles of the Royal College of Art. The event will be filmed by Jeff Banks' BBC TV crew for The Clothes Show. GLITTER BUG Michel Li, wife of Didier and daughter-in-law of Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club steward Alan Li and socialite Cristal, has teamed up with French jewellery house Verney to organise an exhibition and sale of its baubles. Verney founder, Frenchman Michel Ermelin, will open the week-long exhibition at the Art Gallery, Hong Kong Seibu, with a private cocktail reception on Thursday. Li promises a collection worth bringing your cheque-book to with prices starting at $8,000 and creeping up to a cool 'couple of a million'. 'Michel Ermelin is very good at knowing what suits people,' she says. 'If he sees someone trying on a million-dollar bracelet that doesn't look good on them, he'll tell them not to buy it. He believes that it's not how much something costs but how good it looks on you that's important. This is fun jewellery; it's modern and different. It's jewellery you can play with. It's jewellery that moves.' Here's hoping. The drinking-dining-shopping formula is a popular one but, given the countless number of jewellery-related bashes in Hong Kong recently, maybe someone should come up with another idea? NAKED LUNCH GREAT evening clothes for less-than-coronary-inducing prices are to be found at La Perla in The Galleria. The lingerie and swimwear specialists ($900 for a bra, would you believe?) are peddling an exotic line of 'classy vampy clothes'. WHEN?, two models slunk flirtatiously around the store in diaphanous chiffony numbers, barely-there blouses and lattice-work dresses, all retailing at pretty reasonable prices ($2,000-$4,000 for a hot Italian ensemble). Lunchtime office workers hung about outside the store with their noses pressed against the glass, clearly enjoying the view; it sure beat watching the movements of the stock exchange over lunch.
