“Spectacular” best describes the Hugo Boss Selection and Black Fall-Winter 2012 fashion show of men and women collections in Beijing, China.
The National Agricultural Exhibition Center, one of the city’s largest and most impressive complexes, was the venue for this major fashion event, which housed the impressive 1,170-ft LED-laden runway.
Hugo Boss has seven collections, including its higher and medium-price tag lines and a home line. The event showed pieces from two collections, Boss Black and Boss Selection—the latter is the brand’s premium bespoke line.
Although Boss is known primarily for its men’s line, its core business, the brand is revving up its women’s division for 2012.
The show’s theme was “Modern Luxury.” Designers Eyan Allen and Kevin Lobo described the men and women’s collections as “sexy, confident and empowered.” The Hugo Boss Fall-Winter colors are red and black with a lot of cream, and in textures of leather, wool and silk.
A particular look I liked and that was seen throughout the night was men wearing bow-ties. So, gentlemen, bow-ties are not just for geeks and clowns. They are an accessory to enhance and spice up your look and wardrobe.
After the show, we were led to the exhibition center’s garden where red balls were strewn all over the grass, casting a romantic and almost eerie glow. This led into cavernous rooms that were redone to complement each other to give guests a complete sensory experience.
The first room where dinner was held was in ornate gold. The next room, with its VIP seating, was in black and had the Berlin Capital Dance Orchestra playing big-band music; and the oval marble room had everyone grooving to the sounds of DJ Michel Gaubert.
Loudest cheers
The fashion show was attended by about 1,500 guests, among them the ethereal and magnificent actress Tilda Swinton; celebrated actors Matthew Goode (“Single Man” and “Leap Year”) and Ryan Philippe (“Cruel Intentions”), the handsome ex of Reese Witherspoon; the famous international ‘It’ girls Georgia May Jagger (daughter of Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall) and China Chow (daughter of restaurateur Michael Chow and the late Tina Chow); international supermodels Carmen Kass (who was very kind and even asked us how to say some words in Tagalog), Jon Kortajarena, Tyson Ballou, Gabriel Aubry, Ben Hill and Alex Lundqvist.
But the loudest applause was saved for Asian superstar Chow Yun-Fat, who came with his wife and manager, Jasmine Tan. Coincidentally, it was his birthday as well and people sang to him when he came out on the runway.
It was also nice to bump into international blogger Bryanboy (and now a judge in “America’s Next Top Model”), who was asked to emcee the night’s event on the Hugo Boss website, which was on live streaming. Boss stepped up the ante by producing the livestream in 3D and sent about 70,000 glasses to patrons all over the world.
A side note: I was a bit apprehensive going to Beijing, what with the whole Scarborough Shoal fracas and some isolated cases you hear on the news. My time in the city, though, along with fellow writers Raul Manzano and David Milan, failed to live up to my hyperactive imagination—which, of course, was a blessing.