WHAT the fashionable will be wearing tomorrow in the Easter parade in London, Paris or New York doesn't fit here. Hats aren't a part of everyday culture.
But, if a pair of Floras have their way, what's on your head may change as well as what's in it.
Flora Chong-Leen creates hats to go with the clothes she designs for fashion shows. But the ballerina-turned-businesswoman doesn't touch the retail hat market even though she is a died-in-the-straw/felt/foam/wool hat-wearer.
Any of the 50 she owns goes to a Dior lunch, a BBC interview, to work. A sailor's cap is de rigueur on a boat ride. Escape? Split-personality? ''I just love fantasy.'' Flora Chung has other ideas. The spunky owner of Fashion Straws, a milliner's treasure trove on the second floor of Melbourne Plaza in Central, designs hats for everyday occasions and everyday people.
But a phone call from a movie costume designer, a Chinese opera company or a Canto-pop icon sends the former accountant to her sketch pad.
Snapshots of the famous are kept in a album. Vital statistics about Jackie Chan's head size or trivia like the coarseness of his hair, she tosses out like tips on Wednesday nights at Happy Valley.
The 10 hats she owns rarely see daylight. One exception is the denim cap. Work keeps her and her staff of three going, sometimes until midnight. January to June is the busy season, all those brides and wedding guests. Most orders are filled within three days.