Tailor to stars makes HK$6m fire claim

A veteran tailor who makes high-end outfits for many of the city's most prominent women is seeking more than HK$6 million in compensation for damage to his shop's clothing stock in a fire three years ago.

Ho Wing-sheung, owner of Ho's Fashion, is launching a claim in the Court of First Instance against the Incorporated Owners of Golden Crown Court for damages arising from a fire that took place on December 5, 2005.

Testifying before Mr Justice David Yam Yee-kwan yesterday, Mr Ho was asked by the defence why he did not try to sell the damaged clothes. Mr Ho said: 'My clients are all celebrities. For the reputation of my shop and the feeling of my clients, I cannot just cut the prices and sell them.'

Mr Ho launched Ho's Fashion in the 1970s, his lawyer, Louie Mui Kwok-keung, said. His clientele includes female celebrities and senior officials such as State Councillor Liu Yandong and former chief secretary Anson Chan Fang On-sang.

Yesterday, the court heard that a fire broke out inside the workshop on the afternoon of December 5 while Mr Ho was working at the shop next door. The clothes were damaged before firefighters could put out the fire.

The fire was allegedly caused when decorators damaged a gas pipe while working in a common area of the building, outside Mr Ho's workshop. The damaged workshop, and the adjacent shop in which Mr Ho was working during the fire, were purchased jointly by Mr Ho and his wife in 1984 and 2004. The couple are also suing the renovation company, Hip Lee, but no Hip Lee representative appeared in court yesterday.