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Iconoclastic designer Miuccia Prada held court at the former marine police headquarters in Tsim Sha Tsui last night at a party to celebrate the opening of Prada's new flagship store in Central.

More than 1,000 devotees of the Italian brand and its innovative chief joined in a celebration not so much of the Prada name, but what it stands for - elegance, luxury and a touch of vanity.

'I love Hong Kong,' Prada said. 'I first came here when I was 15-years-old and I've been back many other times when we have opened our stores and our office here.'

She said that as a designer, she took motivation from Hong Kong's skyline. 'All these amazing buildings, the incredible bay and this fog,' she said, taking a positive view of Hong Kong's air quality.

In keeping with the label's concept of letting the design speak for itself, there was no overt Prada branding at the function. The only Prada logos visible were on the invitations.

Echoing the theme of Prada's US$40 million flagship New York  store, the  venue inside and outside  had been wallpapered to display a  landscape of vines and ferns.

The venue was divided into three main areas, for dancing, chilling out and drinking.

Off to one side was the VIP room with its own DJ, velvet sofas and sedate blue lighting.

Guests included Ukrainian actress Milla Jovovich, former Miss Hong Kong Michelle Reis, Taiwanese actor Chang Chen  and local star Daniel Wu  Yin-cho.

The events management company, Occasions,  was coy about revealing details.

He said they had reached their desired number of RSVPs by Wednesday. 'Prada is a very popular brand in Hong Kong so we've been very happy to work with them,' a spokesman said.

Earlier, Prada had officiated at the inauguration of her new store in Alexandra House.

Prada has 17 stores in  China and is aiming to have 24 by the end of the year and 30 by the end of 2005 - an investment of HK$322 million. They anticipate that this year's China revenue will double that of last year.

'Hong Kong is no longer just the international platform for the Far East; it increasingly represents a launch pad into the Chinese market,' she said.

'It creates the trends and acts as a showcase for this market.'



Prada refashions police headquarters