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Luxury travel tip – keep out of mainstream fashion

Huishan Zhang

Huishan Zhang

Simply Sunday.  A few years ago the gal wrote Dress Sense (do not bother to look for it – it went out of print very quickly, that indicates that the publishers did not print enough copies).  There were, anyway, only two messages in it.  First, divide the cost of an item by the number of times you wear it, which means of course that you should pay about one dollar for a wedding dress as you are only going to wear it once. Next, if you are not sure what to wear, deliberately wear something ‘different’ and then you will feel happy.

It could be that something by Chinese designer Huishan Zhang is just the ticket. He combines traditional cheongsams with flowing western drapery, as exemplified by the late Madeleine Vionnet (who died in 1975 at the age of 99 which indicates that a fascination with fashion can be good for longevity, and excellent news for Return On Investment in fashion). Huishan Zhang was mentored by LVMH boss Bernard Arnault‘s only daughter Delphine, Vice Chairman of Dior, at that fashion house.  On October 28th, 2013, he won the annual The Dorchester Collection Fashion Prize, awarded by that luxury hotel brand.  This gives him an absolute push up the fashion stakes and it will be interesting to see how the hotels decide to work with him.

Interestingly the Vionnet brand is not one that the gal would favour – it is owned today by the colourful socialite Gogo Ashkenazi – worth looking her up on Google if you have nothing else to do with your time.  Much better return on investment is to study Huishan Zhang and watch his career.