APART FROM A couple of glorious months of delightfully comfortable Mediterranean sunshine before Christmas, sub-tropical Hong Kong is generally either stiflingly hot, drenched with rain or chilled by bitter winds from Mongolia. Yet despite a schizophrenic climate for all seasons, Hong Kong's corporate wardrobe remains steadfastly conservative.
Forget comfort. Whether the humidity drips in the high 90s or not, white-collar Hong Kong goes to work in a suit, shirt and tie. When the streets are flooded, convention still dictates dress shoes.
'Apparel oft proclaims the man,' as Shakespeare long ago observed - and Hong Kong clearly prefers to dress for success.
Hong Kong is a city of suits, even if they are frequently soaked in sweat or torrential rain. From the perspective of adapting clothes to climate, it doesn't make a lot of sense.
Then along came Dress Casual Day, inspired by a casual dress movement on America's west coast, led by icons of the internet age such as Microsoft's Bill Gates and Apple's Steve Wozniak making their millions wearing T-shirts and jeans.
Dressing comfortably was said to aid creativity, boost morale and increase camaraderie - especially between managers and staff. Richard Branson built his Virgin empire without wearing a tie - a tycoon trend emulated in Hong Kong by 'Mr Lan Kwai Fong' Allan Zeman, who also dislikes wearing socks.
Hong Kong's Dress Casual Day started as an annual charity event a decade ago, heralded by dapper Chief Secretary Donald Tsang wearing a cravat, rather than his trademark bow tie. It has since evolved from an annual novelty into a weekly ritual (or twice-weekly, including Saturday mornings) known as Casual Friday or Dress-Down Day.