PARIS, Jan 25, 2004/ FW/ --- 2004 is the Year of China in Paris. In celebration of the Chinese New Year, a big festival was held at Champs Elysee in honor of the Year of the Monkey.

There are a lot of Chinese dignitaries in town, so when I met a high-ranking officer from China’s Ministry of Trade at the Helmut Lang show, though I was a little bit surprised, it was totally not unexpected.

Helmut Lang is very popular in Asia with his minimalist designs. I don’t know the designer’s sales figures for the region, but according to the Chinese gentleman from China’s Trade Ministry, Helmut Lang is a favorite not just by him, but also, a lot of his friends.

Asians are usually generously represented at the Paris shows, be it menswear or womenswear.

Design houses, responding to the demands of their clienteles, hire bilingual and sometimes, trilingual press attachés who can speak French, English and one Asian language.

At the Helmut Lang show, there were several Asians among the PR staff, a sign of the designer’s popularity in the Pacific region, where owning and wearing designer labels have become a status symbol.

Being an Asian American myself, I usually get a PR who speaks one of the Asian languages approach me and asks if I need assistance.

When I say that English is my primary language, I always get a smile and then an instant switch to the English language.

One thing I can say though, these press attachés are well trained. The Asian culture might be foreign to them, but they know how to greet their guests from the Pacific region properly, complete with the polite greeting and bow if necessary.

The world of fashion is changing, and the design houses are adapting accordingly. Once dominated by English-speaking or European clients, it now caters to the Far East.

This adaptability makes fashion more global than ever, and raises the ante one more level for design houses.

And from one I have seen so far, everyone is adapting quite nicely.