久久亚洲国产成人影院-久久亚洲国产的中文-久久亚洲国产高清-久久亚洲国产精品-亚洲图片偷拍自拍-亚洲图色视频

  Home>News Center>Life
         
 

Hong Kong lives in the lap of luxury
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-11-29 16:14

Designer-clad women browse the new arrival racks of a French couturier store; well-heeled gents snap up suits from a US outfitter; and trendy youngsters fill a club-like European sports gear store.

Hong Kongers of all ages fill this mall in search of the world's most prestigious -- and expensive -- labels.

But contrary to appearances, this is not one of the glitzy emporia of the fashion-conscious downtown district. Nor is it in the rarefied atmosphere of the super-rich Peak neighbourhood.

This is Festival Walk, a sleek suburban-style shopping arcade in the middle of the grimy Kowloon district.

While shoppers in the rest of the world must travel huge distances to find stores selling such items, Hong Kongers' huge demand for big-name labels means luxury goods are sold all over the city in places you'd expect to find bargain stores and fast-food chains.

"Hong Kong is an advanced, business-minded, materialistic city: as long as they exist, Hong Kongers will always love their designer labels," said Keith Chan, manager of Milan Station, a chain of stores that specialise in restored designer handbags.

Hong Kong is jammed with high-end shopping malls: a walk through downtown needn't once involve stepping onto the pavement as all major buildings contain malls linked by overhead walkways.

Each of them bristles with the highest-profile brand names like Christian Dior, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Hermes. Road-level stores boast prestigious car marques like Rolls Royce and Jaguar.

And all of them brim with wealthy people who have money to burn.

"We don't buy out of necessity -- as long as it's something that is up-to-date and stylish, something that we like, we would buy it," said May Kwok. In the local parlance, Kwok is known as a tai tai -- the non-working wife of a wealthy businessman.

As a senior civil-servant, Kwok's husband not only has the income to pay for his wife's lavish lifestyle, he also has the social position to justify it.

"We like clothes, shoes and cosmetics but we are not looking for anything particular here," said Kwok, who is in her mid-50s.

Kwok's day is spent immersed in luxury. After a two hour lunch with a friend at an exclusive buffet restaurant overlooking leafy Hong Kong Park she spends four hours shopping in Pacific Place, arguably Hong Kong's swankiest shopping centre.

She is typical of label lovers here, and spends an average of 20,000 Hong Kong dollars (2,600 US dollars) a month on luxury goods. She has seven wardrobes full of clothes at home, she said.

"I have too much, sometimes I have to give them away," she says, clutching a bag of Gucci goods. "My husband sometimes complains that I have too many clothes and handbags. He also moans that I don't wear everything I buy. But I don't care what he says."

Asia accounts for 40 percent of world luxury brand sales and outside of Japan, Hong Kongers buy more luxury items than any other Asians.

That demand and the city's proximity to China's huge emerging market are the reasons brands like LVMH, Prada, and Dolce and Gabbana have their Asia-Pacific headquarters here.

Sales have been boosted by a surge in the number of mainland Chinese tourists visiting Hong Kong courtesy of a relaxed travel policy in China.

High tariffs on luxury goods in China make the cheaper prices in Hong Kong a big attraction for Chinese visitors. Government figures show they spent 6,018 Hong Kong dollars per capita in 2003 compared with 5,502 dollars from overseas tourists.

Morgan Stanley consumer analyst Angela Moh estimates Chinese tourist spending in Hong Kong accounts for about 20 percent of retail sales a year.

"If you are going to the stores like Gucci, the chances of running into someone from the mainland China is very high," she said.

Shanghai resident Tan Xueping, 41, and her five friends took a special three-day shopping trip to Hong Kong.

Although Shanghai has no shortage of its own luxury stores, Tan explains that new products are launched here before going north.

"There are also more foreign brands here, which we like," she said.

Milan Station's Chan understands the city's obsession with luxury: he has made a success out of selling the upper classes' cast-offs to a middle class desperate to get on the social ladder.

"Some consumers may not use their expensive handbags more than a few times," he said. "Some women buy new handbags all the time -- some use them for a few days and some don't even use them at all. Then they sell them to us.

"For some, owning something is more important than actually using it."



Ice beauty Faye Wong sings in Taipei
It's a Girl, and a Boy, for Julia Roberts
Dancesport competition in Shenzhen
  Today's Top News     Top Life News
 

China, Asean to advance free trade, dispute settlement

 

   
 

Wen: No RMB change while speculation is rife

 

   
 

Hope slim for 141 in Shaanxi mine, 25 dead

 

   
 

16 officials in court for accident cover-up

 

   
 

Lai Changxing's limousine auctioned off

 

   
 

Ukraine opposition urges PM's ouster

 

   
  Sprinting hero clears up distortion in autobiography
   
  It's a Girl, and a Boy, for Julia Roberts
   
  Prince Harry 'in love' with teenage student
   
  China art show to dispel HIV women prejudice
   
  Skin trade threatens few surviving tigers
   
  Genetic factors influence female infidelit
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Related Stories  
   
'Luxury' eyes China as market and future competitor
   
Luxury foreign products make inroads
   
Market for luxury brands booms in Shanghai
  Feature  
  HK veteran songwriter James Wong passed away at 64  
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 中国老太性色xxxxxhd | 国产精品国产三级国产an不卡 | 国产人做人爱视频精品 | 欧美成人一区二区三区 | 97视频在线观看免费播放 | 91久久精品国产91久久性色也 | 国产精品夜色视频一区二区 | 久久国产免费 | 国产男女 爽爽爽爽视频 | 国产精品亚洲欧美日韩区 | 久久99国产精品久久99果冻传媒 | 欧美久草 | 成人网免费看 | 中文字幕有码在线播放 | 成人视视| 亚洲第一区视频 | 久久久久久久免费视频 | 欧美深夜在线 | 老人毛片| 91精品国产综合久久久久久 | 日韩欧美一区二区三区不卡在线 | 一级毛片儿 | 免费在线视频成人 | 日韩欧美在线观看 | 夜精品a一区二区三区 | 三级毛片在线播放 | 久草在线免费福利视频 | 精品女厕沟底拍撒尿 | 亚洲免费观看网站 | 亚洲在线视频观看 | 成人手机在线视频 | 国产一区二区三区免费观看 | 亚洲成人精品久久 | 国产高清精品自在线看 | 亚洲在线观看 | 国产精品99 | aaa欧美| 欧美精品午夜久久久伊人 | 无套内谢孕妇毛片免费看 | 亚洲经典乱码在线播 | 欧美激情精品久久久久久久九九九 |