Hermes' 3rd floor goes bag-lady chic

STEP into the third floor of Hermes in Liat Towers and you'd be momentarily floored by what you see: the whole place has been converted into what looks like a huge plastic bag.

The walls and floors have been covered with the cheap woven plastic used to make hung bak lam doi - that ubiquitous "red white blue bag" often seen on the streets of Hong Kong. And there's even furniture covered in or made from the same material.

Considering how the hung bak lam doi conjures up images of poor fresh-off-the-boat immigrants, one wonders: what in the world was Hermes thinking? After all, one wouldn't be caught dead at the airport carrying one of these things.