In the category of ingenious solutions to seemingly intractable problems, I nominate Raphael le Masne de Chermont, executive chairman of Shanghai Tang, who turned a piece of really bad luck – being kicked out of the building where Shanghai Tang was founded in 1994, and where its flagship was established, with less than six months notice – into a creative retail opportunity. Read more
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Vanessa has been the FT’s fashion editor since 2003, and is based in New York, though she lived in London for 12 years.