FABIO Novembre was holding court. His eyes smoldered and flashed. His long ringlets danced to his laughter. As usual, he was flirting outrageously. Across the table in the coffee shop, two chic young marketing executives eyed this extravagant Latin display with delight and occasional alarm. They were enjoying themselves hugely.
''Fabio can't keep his hands to himself. He keeps hugging and kissing us,'' one of them giggled. ''We've given him a nickname: the energetic puppy.'' What tricks he's been up to. A window that is at once shattered and solid; a changing-room whose curved wall seems transparent and can be; velvet chairs shaped like daisies and roses for the voyeurs - oh yes, that wicked young Italian architect is going to have fun this evening when his grand design is revealed at the opening of Hong Kong's first Blumarine boutique.
It's in the Regent Hotel shopping arcade and everybody who is anybody has been invited.
''All the princesses will be there,'' the senior executive promised. ''It's going to be some party.'' For ''princesses'', read Hong Kong's top socialites. Leading the festivities will be Rossella, daughter of Anna Molinari, founder and chief designer of Blumarine.
Like her famous mother, Rossella is a designer, though her main job is to spread the word about Blumarine worldwide. This may be necessary in Asia where the Milan-based women's fashion label is just taking off.
In Italy, where there are already 400 Blumarine shops selling an exhaustive lifestyle range - everything from clothes and accessories to stationery and eyewear - she can afford to sit back and smile.