Anna Zegna enters the room like a bolt of lightning arcing over a corn field at dusk. One minute her office is quiet and still, with soft shadows caressing the books and fabrics on her desk, the next it's full of blinding energy as Zegna sits down while issuing orders to three members of her staff and grabbing a bottle of water to moisten her kinetic lips. She throws a 'Salve!' at me and a 'Ciao!' at the back of an assistant who has been sent to get espressos. 'See,' she says. 'It is done.'

Zegna is talking about the fall / winter 2009 collection for the brand's top-end Ermenegildo Zegna line. We have just watched it thunder down the runway in Zegna's Milan headquarters, accompanied by a blitz of techno jazz beneath subterranean lighting. The signature Zegna pinstripe was everywhere but it's been recast in the colour of Chianti, a lovely burgundy shade running through tailored suits and cropped jackets, some of which look so Siamese-cat soft that nobody would have been shocked if they had started to purr.

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Five of Hong Kong’s major commercial banks cut their prime rates for the first time in almost five years, after the local monetary authority followed the US Federal Reserve in kicking off a rate-cut cycle.

The cuts translate to savings for borrowers who tie their loans to prime rates. For a typical HK$5 million loan of 30 years priced at prime minus 1.75 per cent, the reduction lowers the mortgage rate to 3.875 per cent and shaves the monthly payment by HK$720 to HK$23,512, according to mReferral, a local mortgage broker.