Say hello, Uniqlo!
Thailand is about to become home to two of Southeast Asia's biggest flagships stores - for Swedish home-decor brand Ikea and Japanese trendy casual-clothes label Uniqlo.
Ikea's 43,000-square-metre store on Bangna-Trat Road is set to open on November 3.
Meanwhile, the Uniqlo shop opens at CentralWorld on Thursday with a celebrity fashion show at 6.30pm.
The store has 2,700 square metres on the third floor - Uniqlo's largest in the region, with more than 500 items available for men, women and children.
The brand ventured into Britain in 2001 and then expanded to China, South Korea, the US, France, Russia, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia.
It currently has 1,004 outlets, 161 of them outside Japan.
Hearing ticks
Actresses Aishwarya Rai Bachchan of India, Kate Winslet of Britain and Chi Ling Lin of China all hear the same ticking sound in their ears. It comes from the Longines DolceVita jewellery watch.
The DolceVita combines steel and rose or yellow gold and a dial set entirely with diamonds, meaning the watch reflects the light in a host of subtle colours.
There's also the lady's Longines Conquest adds sporty elegance in two versions - one with diamonds and white mother-of-pearl or a black dial set with 11 diamonds.
The Swatch Group is showing these and many others at the International Watch Fair at Central Chidlom until September 27.
Seeing dots
Its Bibao bag with strips of the Thai flag was a hit, and Issey Miyake's Pleates Please label thinks we'll like its polka-dot Baobao too.
The white bag with black dots suggests three-dimensional depth while assuring sturdy flexibility.
It costs Bt13,000 at the Issey Miyake boutiques at Siam Discovery and Central Chidlom.
