Hong Kong Shopping Report

So as I mentioned in the last post about my Hong Kong holiday that shopping is very much the national sport of this city. Naturally I had to investigate... Honestly the first week I didn't buy a single thing, instead I scouted what was available and by the second week I had a list of places I had to visit.

Starting with the Ap Lei Chau outlet mall where one can find Lane Crawford, Joyce, I. T., and a host of other designer and showroom outlets, sounds like heaven! It is about 20 maybe 30 floors of the strangest mall you may have ever been. It is literally a maze. Recommended courtesy of the internet is to take a lift to the top floor and walk the steps down as the lift situation is sort of ridiculous and can only be understood in person. I went through almost every outlet in the mall but only ended up getting anything from the Lane Crawford outlet. First off was this gorgeous Raf Simons AW 2008 deconstructed top, in what can only be described as a violent yellow hanging amongst a host of much pricier garments. As soon as I saw the price-tag I knew I wasn't leaving it behind. Also it looked like it was straight out of Star Trek and everyone knows that's a win win situation! (Please excuse the Brooklyn fire escape background, you gotta find some natural light!)

Details

The shoe selection was interesting but the prices weren't quite good enough for me. I was almost going to buy these CDG cartoon boots but realized I wouldn't be able to buy anything else so stepped away...

... towards these lovely Raf Simons x Dr Martens! My second pair from his collab and totally unexpected. Still breaking them in, I have to say the lo-top oxford version is pretty tough to break in. But they do look lovely!

I also got my Dad some Paul Smith cuff-links for his birthday. They just looked too good to pass up and now he has a reminder of me wherever he is in the world, be it Hong Kong, London or where else he decides to travel.

I was constantly searching for some good shopping blogs based in HK and ran across one I can't seem to find anymore that said something about a Versace showroom sale. I thought to myself how I wasn't exactly a Versace customer but maybe I should have a look. What can I say, I scored some of the best deals yet! These two luxurious hi-ply cashmere sweaters in a really beautiful knit were bought for approximately $60 each? I couldn't resist visiting their store to find out the retail price and was shocked to find out they were about $2,300 a piece! The photos clearly do not do them justice. Especially the red turtleneck which my camera simply could not capture the correct colour, I tried :(.

little bit closer to its correct colour

I also found these boots in H&M which clearly are menswear knock-offs of Proenza Schouler FW 2009 boots. Ironically I had planned on DIYing them with a pair of docs (still have not done this but I will get around to it eventually, promise). Couldn't face buying them when they still were on my DIY list!

And apparently there were more knock-offs around the corner in the malls of Granville Road, where almost every store sells the same tacky, trendy thing as the one next door. However I simply could not resist buying these Fauxvenchy leggings, especially considering I would never pay more then my rent for a pair of leggings that Lane Crawford. was charging for them I don't really believe in knockoffs as I understand the design process behind the real goods. However when it is someone who would never buy the item in the first place I don't see why it would be such a bad thing. Anywho they look pretty fun on and I do enjoy mixing the prints and layering them.

I also got these interesting futuristic mesh leggings seen here over the Givenchy ones.

Oh and yes I got those sneaker/gladiator sandals which had had more then their fair share of wear (how did that happen, seriously?).

Hopefully this post doesn't cause too much uproar, but it is funny what China is knocking off these days, not just your average LV and Gucci bag anymore.