The return of the 'smart set' to Hong Kong, as banks that trimmed and tailored their pin-striped staff numbers in the wake of the global financial crisis begin hiring again, has put a smile on the face of Daniel Lai Fu-lam. What make Lai especially happy are banks that have begun locating top executives previously ensconced in London to new headquarters here.
This is because Lai is in the tuxedo business, and as the ranks of Hong Kong's executives grows, so too does the number of formal dinners and the need for dress-suits.
For Tuxe Top, Lai's tuxedo hiring company based in Wan Chai, it is back to business as more and more customers come in search of the right attire to attend formal parties and dinners.
Business is good, he says, although not as good as the 'golden days' for tuxedo hire associated with all the pomp and circumstance of the handover. 'We had the biggest hiring demand on the eve of the handover when almost all of available stock was hired by people, be they British or Chinese, who needed formal tuxedoes to attend handover parties and the ceremony,' he said.
All that changed after the party was over, the former British colony with its British ways was returned to China and many expatriates left, Lai noted. 'Before the handover, many Hong Kong officials wore tuxedos to ceremonies or dinners; but now many, including Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, wear Chinese chungshan chong to the functions,' he said.
And unlike Westerners who take dress code to be very important, local Chinese are less inclined to hire tuxedoes to attend formal dinners. As a result, business dropped by a third since the handover.