THE BAG: a Model Shows Off a Creation by Mulberry During a Fash- Ion Week in London
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Monday 9th May, 2011 And often, the new power in Indian Mittal steel dynasty. ESCADA OWNER: control keeps such a low profile Professor Srinivas Reddy, that their mention comes as a associate dean at Singapore Megha Mittal, 35, surprise to shoppers. Management University’s Lee stepped into the fash- Who would have thought the Kong Chian School of Business, ion spotlight with a driving force behind the rebound said these new Asian owners tend purchase of the trou- of British beauty brand Crabtree not to hihighlight their owner- & Evelyn is Singapore-born ship of fabled Western labels to bled high-end German Sandra Lee? avoid diluting the brand image. brand Escada in 2009, Or that the company steering “But they may backed by the clout of British fashion and home fur- discreetly inform consumers in-laws who own the nishings company Laura Ashley in their own country because to record profits is Malaysian there is a great deal of pride for global steel giant company MUI Asia? them to have an established ArcelorMittal. Few may know too that Western brand in their fold,” he THE BAG: A model shows off a creation by Mulberry during a fash- ion week in London. Singaporean business tycoon Christina Ong injected US$12.4 million into an ailing Mulberry a decade ago. with, said Lynda Wee, chief exec- France’s oldest fashion said. utive of retail consultancy firm label, Lanvin, was What cannot be ignored is Bootstrap. bought over by that increasingly, ‘white knights’ Indeed, a spokesman for the Taiwanese media magnate from fast-growing Asian markets Club 21 retail chain owned by Wang Shaw-Ian in 2001. The are snapping up well-known Ong said her investment in pounds (US$12.4 million) into an publisher took on board Israeli Western brands with flagging Mulberry was “grounded in a ailing Mulberry a decade ago. designer Alber Elbaz as chief sales. strong belief in the equity of the Since then, the once small British designer to turn around the Professor Reddy said: brand, unique heritage of label has transformed from a struggling fashion house. Its sales “Growth in the Asian markets in English craftsmanship, and its t the dowdy cousin of high-fashion last year are estimated to have the last 10 years has left Asian potential for global growth”. recent brands into a coveted global luxu- risen by as much as 30 per cent to firms flush with capital and a And her expertise and experi- London Fashion ry label, with latest half-year pre- 170 million euros ($241.5 million). great deal of financial optimism. ence in fashion retail has helped the new status symbol of the Week, a British starlet tax profits jumping by 207 per Other recent acquisitions of They are hungry for global busi- grow the brand. It boasts more fashion-forward. with a Singapore con- cent to 4.7 million pounds ($7.6 famous Western brands by non- ness opportunities and they have than 80 stores worldwide, with Anection hogged the front rows of The English brand is famed million). Western owners include the his- an appetite for risk.” most of its new stores over the for its leather bags. Less well- top couture shows. It is one of several famed toric Milan fashion house Starting a brand from scratch last year opening in Asian coun- known, though, may be the fact The eye candy? The Mulberry Western lifestyle brands that Gianfranco Ferre by Dubai-based takes time, so these companies tries such as China, Malaysia and that it is owned by Singaporean handbag. have been revitalised under the retail empire Paris Group, and instead buy an established brand South Korea. Slung on the arms and shoul- business tycoon Christina Ong. leadership of Asian owners in German luxury fashion label and bring it to developing mar- She injected 7.6 million ders of the fashion rat pack, it is recent years. Escada by Megha Mittal of the kets in Asia that they are familiar Continued on page 2 Laoag longganisa (local sausage), Logue (mungbean sprouts), grated green papaya (some) and egg. (Vigan competes with Batac’s empanada using Vigan longganisa. Vigan also has a claim to the title of Philippines’ best empanada but I personal- ly prefer Batac’s.) The egg may be malasa- do (half-cooked). Pampanga and Bulacan (provinces just outside the capital Manila) boast of, well, almost all major Filipino recipes but can be most proud of having the best kakanin (rice cakes/delicacies). Visitors or returning residents should have their fill of suman (rice stick), bibingka malagkit (sticky rice cake), puto, kutsinta and sapin- sapin (varieties of rice cakes and pud- dings). Locals are so good at this you can just pick any corner store and be satisfied with the products. Continued on page 2 Lobster Sapin-sapin ous versions of chicken or beef eing surrounded by water, the empanada but you have not tasted real Philippines has very fresh and Puto sumptuous seafood. It used to Filipino empanada until be one of the world’s biggest you have tried the version of Batac, Ilocos exporters of rice (although it Norte. This is easy to spot because its Bsince plunged into becoming its biggest colour is bright orange because of the importer), so it has a lot of extremely deli- achuete (natural colouring seeds) mixed in cious rice-based delicacies. And, of it (although some food stalls just use food course, this is the land of lechon (roasted colouring nowadays). Just go to those ven- pig). Even renowned chef and food travel dors outside the town parish or town gym show host Anthony Bourdain has acknowl- and you can get your fix, although some edged that the Philippines is No 1 in the recommend Lanie’s Empanada or Glory’s world when it comes to cooking pork. Empanada if you want to sit down to Ilocos (in northern Philippines) boasts appreciate this pastry. of the empanada, deep fried pastry with a Unlike the empanadas in Manila which savoury stuffing. In Manila, there are vari- offer only chicken or beef and some diced Curacha Chicken inasal Empanada potatoes, Batac’s empanada has Batac or.