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Lane Crawford Pictures, Finally at Stylites.net

Finally my pictures from the Lane Crawford opening party can appear on stylites.net, since they have now already appeared in the December issue of Thats Beijing. Please get your own copy, to see these photos in print. The original goal for this edition of Stylites in Beijing, in That’s Beijing, was to focus on the whole Financial Street area in Western Beijing. However, I found on numerous trips to the area that there was very little interesting style in the region beyond the night of the Lane Crawford opening party. Even in Seasons Place Shopping Mall, where Lane Crawford is located, on a normal day, there is no one that I want to photograph. In fact, there are very few people, owing to the location and the high prices of the stores in the mall. Perhaps this simply highlights the exclusivity of the shopping complex. I guess the name Financial Street says it all. Ibankers can certainly be stylish in a traditional way, though they tend not to chase the latest trends, but even that Saville Row set of style sensibilities has not reached Beijing. However, the international fashion elite welcoming Lane Crawford to Beijing showed an intimate knowledge of the looks and pieces that are hot now, and a talent for mixing, matching, and innovating on them creatively.

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Bernie describes Beijing as “culturally rich” with consumers “ready for anything”. His attitude and look both seem “ready for anything” with this singular cotton waistcoat that blends British tradition with the de-rigeur black of the fashion elite. Based in Hong Kong, Bernie is a buyer for Lane Crawford.

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Did anyone ever say Chinese women don’t have long legs. Even with this pair, the leg warmers seem to add rather than subtract from height. Fangfang is a fashion designer who owns her own shop; the coat is her own creation.

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Junior buyer Jimmy says menswear at Lane Crawford will rely on key brands like Zegna and Armani, while educating on new brands with a more “romantic” spirit. His Burberry Prorsum wool/cashmere coat with braided epaulettes (RMB 27,350) encapsulates that spirit and the size 48 hanging in the store happens to be a perfect fit for me. Instead I picked up a similar, but inferior because it lacked the braided epaulettes and Italian fabric, piece in 3.3 for RMB 550.

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Maggie Cheung


Sorry for the hand. I forgot to mention that I saw Maggie Cheung at the Lane Crawford party. She was in the process of being hearded off to the VIP room, no doubt. She is as beautiful as she is said to be and seeing her was one of the high points of my adult life. For Western viewer who may not know Maggie: she starred in In the Mood for Love. Americans may be more familiar with Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi, but for the Chinese themselves and – perhaps not so coincidentally – the French, Maggie Cheung is the most beloved Chinese actress and the most beautiful.

In the Mood for Love is worth seeing just for many reasons: the soundtrack, the story, the setting. For me, the beautiful qipaos she wears are reason enough.

There is a time lag on my photos, for which I apologize. The photos I take for That’s Beijing must appear there before they appear on my blog, according to our agreement. So the Lane Crawford party is quite old news in Beijing as is summer, but photos from these two events will be appearing on my blog periodically anyway. I am trying to remedy this problem. Given the fact that I don’t too much time to take photos, it is difficult. Regard the blog as a celebration of timeless style.

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On Lane Crawford’s Menswear

Prepared to go acquiring, some men at the opening party of Lane Crawford are looking cool.

They could feel confident that Lane Crawford selected the best pieces from each of the labels on offer. Rick Owens, Burberry Prorsum, Viktor and Rolf, Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, Neil Barrett, and Alexander Mcqueen are in Beijing for the first time. The new Dior Homme shop opposite confirms that Beijing is no longer a men’s fashion backwater.

Here are Beijing’s best shoes. Check N.D.C Made by Hand brogues (4,100). Lane Crawford is China’s only distributor of these and the Spanish Preventi (around 2,500). Church’s (5,800-6,800), bench-made in the UK, are among the earth’s best shoes, though boring Zegnas are still the top sellers at Lane Crawford. Uh, not to mention the John Lobbs (14,000+).

The tie, shirt, and scarf selection was acceptable, but for lovelier choices, check Allen in Oriental Plaza. More pocket squares would be nice. Standouts were Burberry Prorsum slim ties (1,895) and Viktor and Rolf star print ties (1,000). Choices in attractive corporate-friendly ties lagged; brands missing include Hilditch and Key, Charvet, and Massimo Bizzochi. The Italy-made store brand shirts (1,400) suffice, but Turnbull and Asser or Borrelli would outclass. Skip Vivienne Westwood scarves – the orb is old – but indulge in an over-dyed Raf Simons “split ends” scarf (3300).

Officewear is Dunhill, Zegna, Pal Zileri, and Armani, familiar brands that will sate nearby ibankers and private equity thugs, and generate steady cash flow. The well-edited collections save trips to their boutiques, but truly exclusive brands like Barbera, Isaia, or Belvest might be nice. Choose Pal Zileri for its superior construction – a one button, peak lapel, s120 navy pinstriped suit (18,300) needs you. Non-sale prices include alterations. Skip the Paul Smith suits, but try out his beige, velvet-collared, crombie (13,700).

For divine experiences, blending high fashion with great tailoring, go for the silk/wool Alexander Mcqueen suit (26,700), which makes shimmering look good and will doubtless adorn a popstar, and the black Burberry Prorsum wool/cashmere coat with braided epaulettes (27,350) that seemed custom-made for me. Or you could get personalized replicas custom-made by a tailor here in Beijing.

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Lane Crawford Opens

Burberry Prorsum, YSL Rive Gauche, Dries Van Noten, Viktor and Rolf – boyz you can finally get their latest pieces right here in Beijing! For the more conservative types, there is a better selection of Pal Zileri, Armani, and Zegna than is even available in their rather patronizingly edited boutiques.

Ample champagne, beautiful clothes, and more stylish people than I have ever seen in one place – the Lane Crawford opening party was great fun and the pictures I will add over the next week will highlight this. Stay tuned for my review of the new store in the next That’s Beijing.

Before that, let me proclaim: the arrival of this store here is a revolution. Beijing at last hosts a well-curated treasury of global fashion’s top designs. China’s cultural center deserved a fashion emporium that matched its artistic spirit. It is here. Other retailers and many retail consultants underestimated the maturity of the market, thinking that designers could get away with offering a selection combining re-runs of old seasons, loud branded dross, and a whole load of Hugo Boss and Dunhill. The Beijing fashion consumer is more sophisticated than that, as Lane Crawford astutely realized. Should I be their chief of PR?

The men’s selection maximizes time and taste, two values essential to the global cognitive elite. Men can now find the most stylish pieces pieces on offer in the city on just two floors. It is better than anything in any of the single-brand boutiques or department stores here before.

Lane Crawford fills a gap and the nouveaus with the cash to shop there and not enough time to find a good tailor will have a big advantage. The problem in Beijing is that if you want off-the-rack apparel that combines quality with style, you can only turn to the expensive stuff or a tailor. There is no decent high-street, no consignment shops, and no discount shops like Filene’s Basement.

Much more on this to come.