Picture perfect

Hong Kong celebrity twosome Simon Yam and Qi Qi were perched comfortably on the sofa, wearing smiles and hamming it up for the camera between voracious bites of Yakun kaya toast and discreet swallows of milk tea. Despite having just landed a few hours earlier - with Yam coming straight from the film set of The Man Of Tai Chi, a new Hollywood movie also starring Keanu Reeves - they were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Clad in Lanvin, Dsquared2 and Pierre Balmain threads, the couple was in town recently at the behest of Coach, the American luxury accessories brand, to celebrate the opening of their largest flagship store in South-east Asia.

The 4,600-square-feet store is located in at Wisma Atria Shopping Centre, and Qi Qi wasted no time in staking claims on her favourite bag - a python embossed signature bag from Coach's Madison collection ("I have two - one in green and the other, purple. Green is one of my lucky colours and I like it since I can wear jeans and have a dash of colour other than blue"); while Yam preferred something simpler: A basic, brown weekend carry-all.

What do you think of the new Coach store?

Qi Qi: Beautiful. I've always loved Coach bags. I mean, I use it every day. And I think this shop is very big. It's the biggest in Asia and it's beautiful.

Simon: I love the smell of leather here.

Do you guys still remember your very first encounter with Coach?

Simon: I remember I bought one bag in New York. That was a long time ago. I still keep that one in my warehouse because I've got a lot of stuff and we bought a warehouse to put all the stuff. This is good for me - for us - for the memories.

Qi Qi: For some bags, you can only use them for a period, but for Coach, it's timeless. You can use it for many years. Some bags from other brands are very fashionable but you can only use it for three months and they'll say, "Oh, this is out of fashion". But Coach is not like that. It's also good as an investment for your bags and you can use it for quite a few years.

What matters when it comes to style?

Qi Qi: I feel that comfort is of key, and my style is elegant, happy and fun. (Laughs)

Simon: It's more or less the same, except mine comes with the smell of leather. Even today, leather has brought us a lot of happiness, so I will always purchase a leather item for every wardrobe because it brings about a wave of memories.