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HK: a fashion of world variety

The Young Reporter (1979, April 01), 11(10), pp. 4, 5.
Author: Patrick Chan, Rhoda Jen.
Permanent URL - https://sys01.lib.hkbu.edu.hk/bujspa/purl.php?&did=bujspa0012959

By PATRICK CHAN and RHODA JEN

THERE is a world of difference — in the atmosphere, space, decor and the prices and quality — between the high-fashion boutiques and the smaller lower-price dress shops in Hongkong.

In the nigh-fashion boutiques you feel the elegance the moment you enter.

There is quality in the displays and floor-layout design and a spaciousness that allows quiet dignified shopping.

On the other hand, in the low-price shops which sometimes are crowded into an area of 100 square feet, there is pushing and shoving and noisy bargaining.

Yet both types of boutiques are basically doing the same thing - selling clothes that meet the requirements of current fashion.

While the elegance of the high-fashion boutiques lures many buyers, the high-price atmosphere frightens off others.

To those for whom price is not important, the high-fashion boutiques seem to provide a guarantee of quality, as well as dresses and gowns with famous labels — symbols of status.

“There are some who just come in because they have confidence in our label,” said Mrs Margot Wong, manageress of the Boutique Christian Dior.

“It is not just label, but design and quality that we are selling. The actual garment produced in Europe and the fabric account for the high price,”said Wong.

Mrs Caren Simpson, director of Dorothee Bis, has similar views, saying that quality is the most important difference between high-fashion, boutiques and the small fashion shops.

“The price also shows the difference between the original and a copy. Everyone agrees that the former is far more valuable.

“Each time we sell one, we lose one, as there is very limited number of each style,” said Mrs Simpson.

One needs not be surprised to find that these high- class boutiques are selling exactly the same items or collections as their counterparts in the world’s top fashion scene — Paris and Italy.

“Not only is each single item made and flown here from Paris, but also the decoration and design of the whole boutique resemble Dorothee Bis of Paris,” said Simpson.

“So if one is going to spend on fashion, spend it wisely,” she added.

On the other hand, small fashion shops in Pak Shing Market and Millie’s Centre in Jordan Road or the Phoenix Arcade in Causeway Bay are selling locally-made clothes or imports from Japan.

“We have our own factory making clothes. In addition, we buy Japanese creations from local wholesalers,” said the owner of the Silver Tree Fashion Co. in Pak Shing Market.

“Though the shop may be crowded on weekends and holidays, our sales are limited. Also profits are dropping when compared with two years ago,” she said.

“Moverover [i.e. Moreover], competition is very keen, because there are many other shops in the same arcade,” she added.

Similar rivalry does not exist in the high-fashion boutiques, because there is a sort of loyalty shown by customers to certain label, Mrs Margot Wong said.

She also admits that it is a profitable business, and that another branch of her firm will be opened in May in the Peninsula Hotel shopping arcade.

Imitation of exclusive foreign creations by local manufacturers is serious and common, but it hardly has any influence or effect on the business of the high-fashion boutiques, as said by both Mrs Simpson and Mrs Wong.

“They can copy the style, but not the quality, the cutting and the fabric,” said Mrs Wong.

“The craftsmanship, the density and the richness of the colour of our clothings, and the fabrics exclusive to our designers can never be copied,” said Mrs Simpson.

“Just because they copy and never create, local fashion is always lagging behind about two years.

“Unlike us, they dare not sell a new style until people become familiar with it or have adapted to it,” Mrs Simpson added.

Exclusiveness is another important factor that draws people, especially ladies, to the high-fashion boutiques.

“We know our customers well, and keep a record of what they have bought. So customers can check with us whether their friends have bought a similar outfit, before they decide to buy,” said Mrs Simpson.

Customers also differ in the high-fashion boutiques and the small fashion shops.

Ms Yiu of Gucci in the Peninsula Hotel shopping arcade said about 90 per cent of the shop’s customers are tourists.

The percentage of tourists is lower in Boutiques Christian Dior and Dorothee Bis.

“Forty per cent of our customers are tourists, mostly Japanese and Koreans. This is because Japan is selling our collection at a price three times higher than Hongkong,” said Mrs Wong.

However, there is also a difference in style among the high-class boutiques.

“We are selling a different type of clothes from those in Dior or Gucci which are more classical. Ours give a more casual yet elegant look, and cater for the contemporary sophisticated women aged 25 or above,” said Mrs Simpson.

On the other hand, most customers of the small fashion shops are girls and young women in their 20s. It seems they are intimidated by the prices and swank decor of the high-class boutiques and dare not enter.

“No boutique would like to have its clothes dirtied by careless and irresponsible customers. But we treat everyone who visits us the same, no matter whether they are well-dressed or not.

“There are some who do not buy anything during their visit but who may return later after saving enough to buy what they want. So everyone who enters is our prospective customer,” said Mrs Simpson.

“Hongkong is an important market for fashion. People here, unlike Europeans, have more hustle and bustle, which means they have more chance to wear fashion,” said Mrs Simpson.

“And if the young want to be fashionable, but they cannot afford buying the original, they can buy locally-made copies.

“But they will grow up and we will wait for them,” remarked Mrs Simpson.

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