But Hong Kong still prefers it’s Louis Vuitton.

Nielsen has done a worldwide survey of the most desirable luxury brands and it seems on a worldwide score, Gucci, is the #1 most coveted brand.

In the latest survey, one in five global consumers said they would choose to buy Gucci (over any other luxury brand) if money was no option, making the Italian fashion brand that was revived by Tom Ford in the 1990’s the most coveted and aspirational luxury brand in the world today.

Chanel and Calvin Klein tied for second place in Nielsen’s 48-country global online survey that was conducted in November 2007. In fourth place came Louis Vuitton, followed by Giorgio Armani, Christian Dior and Versace.

But we in Hong Kong know that just isn’t true, and the survey continues:

If money was no object, two in five Chinese consumers would choose Chanel and thirty-eight percent of Russians would choose Christian Dior. One in three Russian consumers also said they would spend their money at Versace and Prada. Two in five Hong Kongers and Filipinos would choose Louis Vuitton while Giorgio Armani, Calvin Klein and Yves St Laurent are top picks for Latam consumers. Twenty-five percent of Japanese consumers would buy Hermes if money was no object.

Gucci has 9 Hong Kong retail outlets: The Landmark, Elements, Harbour City, Jumbo Sogo, Pacific Place, Times Square, Lee Gardens Two and 2 retail outlets at the Hong Kong International Airport. Visit them online at Gucci.com

Times Square Bazaar brings everyone another sale.

Heads up shoppers, and head over to Times Square for the Sportswear & Casual Wear Mega Sale will be held from now until Monday, March 3rd. You can enjoy up to 70% discount in purchasing various types of branded sportswear and equipments from famous brands like Adidas, NIKE, New Balance, Reebok, Paul Frank, le coq sportif, sunbrella, Monchhichi, Wilson, PONY, SUPER-X and ROCKPORT. Apparently they will a be sold at “crazy prices” and in limited amount.

Event Details:
Date: 27 Feb – 3 Mar 2008
Time: 11:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Venue: Times Square Bazaar - Access from 13/F Food Forum
Payment Method: Cash, Credit Card
Enquiry Hotline: 21188900

Becks in town for an exhibition match on March 9.

Yes we know this is not shopping or entertainment news, but we know many of our readers would kill us if we didn’t report the news that David Beckham and his team will be in Hong Kong to play an exhibition match on March 9th.

The game against a Hong Kong Union side will be the third and last match of an Asian tour that will take Beckham and his team mates to Seoul for a match on March 1 and Shanghai for a match on March 5.

The star power of former England skipper Beckham is expected to generate huge crowds at the three money-spinning exhibition games for the Los Angeles Galaxy which will be shown on TV in both Asia and in the US.

Announcing the Hong Kong date, the Los Angeles club’s assistant general manager said in a statement: “We are very excited to be able to add this important third match to the Galaxy’s Asia Tour 2008.”

The Hong Kong match will be played in the 40,000 seater Hong Kong Stadium. Earlier, the Galaxy will take on FC Seoul at the Seoul World Cup Stadium and a Shanghai-Hong Kong United team in Shanghai four days later.

We believe this to be even bigger news than if the Spice Girls did show up for their previously announced concert appearance in Hong Kong last month. But having Becks in town will create a stir, with or without Posh.

UPDATE FEB. 29: Even though there has been some talk yesterday that Becks’ appearance might not be happening, the SCMP has confirmed today that he is ready to rock with the LA Galaxy on March 9th:

After two days of meetings and discussions, the Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA) has agreed to sanction an exhibition match between Beckham’s Los Angeles Galaxy and a South China Invitation Team on Sunday week.

“An agreement has been reached with the promoter and the match is definitely on,” HKFA deputy secretary Lam Shing-kui said yesterday.

Lam said the match would be held at the Hong Kong Stadium, with the South China Invitation Team comprising players from the champions and other clubs.

The Galaxy also confirmed on their website the game had been given the go-ahead: “The LA Galaxy have announced they will play a pre-season friendly in Hong Kong on Sunday, March 9. This match will be the third and final match of the club’s Asia Tour 2008.”  

Glad this could be worked out in time. Read about the potential delay here.

Pretty much by the numbers, except for the win for ‘Juno.’

Another year another Oscar show (that almost didn’t happen), but the big upset (but in a good way) was Diablo Cody’s (pictured above) Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Juno (which we reviewed here.)

We’re not sure what she’s wearing (which you can see more of here) or what the deal with the rumored $2 million pair of shoes she was supposed to wear was, but she was up against some stiff competition for her category, so it was nice to see that the Academy gave the 29-year old former stripper an award for what is easily the most incredible script to come out in a long time. Read more about Diablo here or read her blog at MySpace.

Read the full list of Winner’s here. We only saw Atonement, Juno and Ratatouille so don’t feel bad.

The Wild Boys are here on April 12.

Tickets go on sale Monday, February 25th for Duran Duran’s visit to Hong Kong! They are playing here on April 12th at the Pop TV Arena, which we are not familiar with, but its in the city on Austin Road West.

We’re big fans so we will definitely be seeing the 4-some - guitarist Andy Taylor (4th from left) has since left the group - but expect Simon, Nick, Roger and John to be playing tunes from their new CD Red Carpet Massacre as well as a bevvy of classics.

Tickets available at HKTicketing.com and Tom Lee Music or call the booking hotline at 3128-8288 on Monday.

Remember “the wild boys are calling, on their way back from the fire….”

Lindsay doesn’t want Edison taking all her face time.

Lindsay to her agent: “I’m tired of all this Edison Chen news, I want people talking about my body again!”

And so it was done.

OK maybe that wasn’t the conversation but Lindsay is definitely in the news again thanks to her photo spread as Marilyn Monroe in the newest “soon to be a collector’s item” issue of New York magazine no less. See all the photos here.

But the true story is what those photos are worth, and you can read the financial accounting that estimated them at US$500,000 over 2 days for New York magazine’s website alone at Forbes.com.

Fashion clothing has a sense of humor in Hong Kong.

Fanban Edison Design has launched 3 new Edison Chen T-shirts for you to show off your love of the whole giant news giant that continues to rumble on in Hong Kong!

There are 2 other designs at their MySpace page here. No price yet but I think we’ll buy a dozen of each to share with friends.

And while we like to report what we hear on the whole Edison Chen Sex Scandal, (ECSS) we can’t bring ourselves to post the photos here or to follow the intimate small details. So thank Edison, that we have the Hollywood Grind blog (that has no doubt seen a massive surge in traffic from following this story) as they have a day-by-day play on what happened so far with all the photos and videos, so if you want them check them out here.

UPDATE MARCH 3: It seems the world is crazy for Edison Chen T-Shirts so this company has now set up a Hong Kong online store and one in the U.S. to fulfill the demand for the need for Edison Chen apparel to be worn across the ABC communities there. Finally a candidate for the rest of us.

Go here to find the links to the 2 stores. 

Get out of the malls and get some culture.

It only happens once a year, so if you are wanting to take a break from all of the sales and the movies why not see a play or a ballet or one of the wonderful events at the 36th Hong Kong Arts Festival that is now on.

Click here to see the full schedule and special note is the opening of Orpheus X, which plays only until Sunday the 24th so it might be a good pick for this weekend. Photos and more information can be found here.