“一起头就可以与Carolina Herrera和Badgley Mischka互助，我很荣幸，他们对在亚洲扩展营业很感乐趣，”Chow说。今朝，她的门店持有Oscar de la Renta、Monique L'Huillier、Kumari和Reem Acra在亚洲的独家代办署理权。同时，新加坡的The Link Wedding独家代办署理了Vera Wang在亚洲的营业。
同时，中海内地的一小部门女性一向在飞临香港或新加坡，选购西方气概的婚纱。The Link Wedding估量，他们的内地营业占“10%并在不乱增加”。Chow也认为，“Central Weddings有10%的营业来自内地。这些婚纱代价跨越某些人的年薪，他们也很少做推行，大都主顾是经人先容而来。“他们不必定受过西方教诲，但我认为，她们紧跟时尚潮水，并且经常采办豪侈品，”Chow说。“她们很快就做出决议，而且就地付钱。”
Imagine telling the wives of the four England footballers who got married last week about the traditional Chinese practice of renting bridal gowns – and imagine the horror. Renting a venue is one thing, but how can a woman rent a gown for one of the most important days of her life?
Simple. Greater China is mostly non-Christian, and what westerners think of as the wedding gown is only worn for picture taking. According to local celebrity designer美白乳霜,, a traditional Chinese wedding would involve one gown that could be a bridal gown for the ceremony, another for the reception, another for tossing the bouquet, yet another for dancing, and finally one for seeing guests off. In addition, says Carolyn Chow, partner and general manager of Central Weddings and Occasions in Hong Kong: “The average Hong Kongese lives in a small flat and if she buys a wedding dress, there is no room for storage. It is also more important to wear a cheongsam or qi pao. The wedding dress is not important so they don't see any reason for spending much on it.”
Or rather, they didn't. Recently, women in Hong Kong and Singapore have started to buy high-quality designer gowns. “A large part of the HK population is open to western culture and familiar with international brands,” says Chow. “We are seeing a trend towards sli妹妹er and fewer gowns,” agrees Ho.
When Chow started looking for a gown to wear to her own wedding, she couldn't find anything in Hong Kong that was on a par with what she saw as a student in America. Fou台中機車借款，r years ago, she opened Chimes, her first bridal business endeavour.
“I was lucky to be able to start relationships with Carolina Herrera and Badgley Mischka, who were very interested in expanding into Asia,” says Chow. Now her shop also holds exclusive Asian rights to Oscar de la Renta, Monique L'Huillier, Kumari and Reem Acra. Meanwhile, Vera Wang in Asia is exclusive to The Link Wedding in Singapore.
Whole bridal packages are “not much cheaper than having something made for you that is beautiful and well done,” says Chow, whose gowns start at HKD 50,000台中搬家公司, (£3,330), including local fittings. Ho, whose gowns 酒店兼職, start at HKD 20,000 (£1,300), adds: “More fashion-conscious brides like to manifest their individuality.”
Meanwhile, a smaller segment of mainland Chinese women have been flying to Hong Kong and Singapore for western-style wedding gowns. The Link Wedding estimates their mainland business at “10 per cent and growing steadily”. Chow also attributes about 10 per cent of Central Weddings' market to the mainland. Having done very little publicity for gowns that cost over a year's pay for some, most customers come through referrals. “They may not be western educated but I suspect they follow fashion trends and buy luxury goods,” says Chow. “They make decisions quickly and pay right away.”
Gifts change too
It's not just Chinese wedding dresses that are changing; the classic bridal jewellery and gifts are also evolving. At the usual pre-wedding tea ceremony, the mother-in-law used to present the bride with 24-carat gold bracelets. These days, it may be bangles embossed with Mickey and Minnie Mouse, or Hello Kitty and her husband, Daniel.
“The traditions are still practised, but we have to modernise our designs,” explains Emily Li, brand general manager of Chow Sang Sang in Hong Kong. The 73-year old jewellery chain has the licence to produce 24-carat gold Disney and Sanrio characters, and all manufacturing is done in China.