HK designer finds mall staff easier to dress than his usual clientele

Some of local couturier Barney Cheng Siu-leung's new designs can be checked out in malls run by Swire Properties. However, they're not in any of the stores. Instead, the clothes will be worn by customer service and management staff. The developer unveiled a new line of uniforms for its staff in Pacific Place, Festival Walk, Cityplaza and the Citygate outlets yesterday, all designed by Cheng.

'For uniforms, it's usually a no-brainer, but with Swire they give you a bible of a wish list. It's really professional,' Cheng said. 'It's the first time I've done uniforms where I had to do on-site visits to see the personality of the malls. We updated it so it's more comfortable and coherent within the group, but also reflect the different identity of each property. For example, Citygate is more youthful and hip, while Pacific Place is more fashion forward.'

Cheng had to beat three other local designers for the gig, and once on board the process required close to a year of consulting and adjusting. 'I took them on as if they were a couture client. Plus, they really cared about the welfare of their employees.

'They initially even approved a material with cashmere in it, but we ended up not using it because it wasn't durable enough.'

Compared with his usual socialite clientele, Cheng suggests Swire can be just as picky but far more refreshingly direct. 'With tai-tais, they would say, 'oh, I'm not sure', but Swire is like 'we like this, we don't like that'. They're very upfront.'