Harbour remains fragrant to Gilles
LET'S not hear any more talk about the devastating pong of the nullah at Kai Tak. The chairman of Nina Ricci, Gilles Fuchs, who knows a learned thing or two about matters fragrant, has a very different view.
When Keeping Posted lunched with him at buzzing Quo Quo's yesterday we were rather taken by surprise when the jolly Frenchman remarked that 'as soon as your plane lands in Hong Hong it hits you like a breath of fresh air'.
The Hong Kong Tourist Association (HKTA) will be pleased to know that we did not pursue Fuchs' remark any further, preferring to leave it at that. So if the HKTA wants to use that quote in any future promotional material they can be our guest.
Fuchs is briefly in town to check out preparations for the launch on October 14 of his company's first perfume - Deci Dela - in seven years. As he tactfully put it: 'Unlike our competitors, we don't put out new perfumes every morning.' The new fragrance is packaged in the designs of the acclaimed furniture and interior designing duo of Elizabeth Garouste and Mattia Bonetti (who locally are designing the interiors for the new home of wealthy man-about-town Nelson Woo, who lives between London and Hong Kong).
One of the other guests at the cosy lunch was an ultra-glam woman who hit a politically correct note by turning up draped completely in Nina Ricci except for her Versace sunglasses (worn on the forehead, naturally).
Which was more than we could say for another of the guests who showed his PC failings by turning up carrying a large shopping bag belonging to a Nina Ricci competitor.
But with the skill of a true diplomat, Fuchs took off his spectacles and remarked: 'Without my glasses I can't see anything.' To be launched simultaneously in Asia and Europe - with Hong Kong and Paris as the main focus - the new perfume will be backed by a TV commercial shot in France featuring Anne Brochet, who starred in the movie Cyrano de Bergerac with Gerard Depardieu who is currently in our midst.
The last word must be left to our ultra-glam lunch guest who pronounced Deci Dela as 'fruity'.
Although Keeping Posted has no idea what that means, we're sure our tai tai friends will most certainly do.
