Posts Tagged ‘Hong Kong’

The Way to an Investor’s Heart is Through His Wife’s Closet?

Wednesday, June 8th, 2011


(photo credit: fimoculous)

If you were a major luxury fashion house going public in an attempt to raise $3 billion from Asian investors, would you spend hours working on your investor PowerPoint presentation, or would you wrap a bunch of models in snakeskin and have them walk around at the Plaza Hotel?

Guess which way Prada went?

The Italian company is pursuing an IPO, which means it’s going to sell off pieces of itself to public investors, in Hong Kong this month. In order to woo potential investors, it held a relatively small fashion show for tycoons and their wives and daughters. Female tycoons either didn’t exist or were mysteriously lost in the editing of this WSJ piece about the event.

Prada is valued at $15.7 billion, so with this initial public offering, they’re giving up ownership of almost 20% of the company. But they’ve got to raise that cash somehow if their plans for world fashion domination are going to work out.

In other news, here’s a handy list of some of the biggest IPOs in U.S. history.

Hey, investor. Would YOU be wooed by a runway show?

That Custom-Made Suit Is Going To Cost You

Wednesday, January 12th, 2011


credit: John_Brennan

If you’re not sure what inflation looks like in real life, try asking your tailor. Having suits and dresses made to order in Hong Kong or Singapore used to be the secret to looking good on a budget. But all that is starting to change. Here’s why:

1. Inflation! The apparel industry has been safe from inflation for a long time, but fabric today is more expensive than it was a few years ago. In 2010 alone, the price of cotton in Hong Kong went up by 91%. More expensive materials = a more expensive product.

(And because inflation generally raises prices across the board, tailors are demanding higher wages so they can keep up with the cost of everyday living.)

2. Consumer demand! More people have the money to order custom clothing these days, and tailors and materials are in short supply. That means more work for tailors, and a higher price tag for customers. In other words, the supply of materials and producers has stayed the same, but the demand for finished products has increased. When demand exceeds supply, you’ve got a price increase on your hands.

New Prices:

  • A custom suit made in Singapore with expensive luxury fabric runs about $5,400. A similar suit by an Italian producer might cost $10,000.
  • In 2009, a custom shirt from Singapore cost $177; today it would cost about $330.

“We’re so busy that we’re having to turn some people away.” – Mark Cho, Co-Founder of The Armoury in Hong Kong

Stocks, Bonds, Diamonds?

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

A pink diamond sold for a record amount in Hong Kong to… an anonymous bidder.

  • A 5 carat pink diamond, the size of a chickpea, set in a silver ring was auctioned off for a record $10.8 million.
  • The diamond was sold to an unidentified individual. Christie’s International (which held the auction) would not confirm if he or she was Chinese. This unidentified person beat out Chinese millionaire and successful stock investor Liu Yiqian and his wife Wang Wei.
  • Many items that were sold in the auction sold for prices greater than their value due to a drive in Chinese buying and the growing interest in jewelery among the Chinese.

Facts & Figures

  • This pink diamond sale beats out the previous record of $10.5 million for a 7.03 carat blue diamond.
  • A cushion-shaped 16.65 carat sapphire set by Van Cleef & Arpels sold for just under $2.4 million.
  • Total sales at the Christie’s auction came to just under $48 million.

Best Quote

“Some prices were crazy, way above what one would pay even at a jewelry store. There’s a lot of mainland Chinese buying; either they didn’t know what the items are worth or they wanted them so badly that price didn’t matter.” – Donald May, Hong Kong-based Gem Dealer