Hong Kong

Those stories and more here in our daily news roundup.

• The Municipality of Florence will award Suzy Menkes the Fiorino d'Oro — an award for contributions to the city — during the upcoming Pitti Uomo men's trade show. [WWD]
  

• If rumors are to be believed, Vogue has tapped Beyoncé for its March 2013 cover. [HuffPost Style]
  

• Over 100 retailers, including DVF, Helmut Lang, Marc Jacobs, and Tory Burch, are offering postholiday markdowns on select merchandise. [Racked]
  

• Many retailers hope their new promotions will make up for a lower-than-expected holiday shopping numbers. [WWD]
  

• In related news, Maison Martin Margiela has relaunched its website. [MMM]
  

• It's official: Terry Richardson is making a documentary about Lady Gaga. [Fashionista]
  

• Phillip Lim's pop-up store in Hong Kong, which opened its doors last week and will stay open for 10 months, is the brand's first temporary space in Asia. [3.1 Phillip Lim]

Photo courtesy of Maison Martin Margiela for H&M.

These stories and more in our daily news roundup.

Hong Kong's newest luxury spa might not be so relaxing if you have a fear of heights. The new ESPA just opened in the city's Ritz-Carlton International Commerce Center, the third tallest building in the world. ESPA sits on the 116th and 118th floors, making it the highest spa on Earth.

Don't worry if you're only slightly acrophobic, though. The architects, HBA, gave the space rounded edges and curved walls to create the illusion of insulation and protection from the world below. And in the relaxation room, the custom-designed lounger pods are curtained to create private, safe-feeling cocoons. The treatment we're coveting most? Their 90-minute Lava Shell Treatment ($191 USD), where heated shells, warmed aromatic oils, and deep-tissue-massage strokes will (hopefully) melt away any stress you may be feeling from the hotel's dizzying height.

Here's a post from OnSugar blog Apartmentalizing:

Oh. My. GOD! This architect in Hong Kong created 24 rooms out of a 344-sq.-ft. apartment with unbelievable sliding walls, the most creative combination of spaces, and gorgeous use of mirrors and light. I've never seen anything like this! Guy Kawasaki posted a video of it, but I've grabbed it so you can check it out here. I mean, if I could do that in NYC, I'd live like a queen!

Want to see more? Start following Apartmentalizing or start your own OnSugar blog!

"Compensated dating" is a growing and frightening trend among Hong Kong's teenage girls. The term refers to the practice of requiring a man to pay a fee for a date that more often than not includes sex. Shockingly, many teenage girls engaged in "compensated dating" are not selling themselves just to get by — they're reportedly doing it for extra shopping money.

CNN tells the story of Sze, a young woman who would charge $350 for dates when she was 16.

Sze said she started compensated dating because many of her classmates at an all-girls school were doing it. She says she became jealous when she saw the designer clothes, bags and cosmetics they bought with the money they earned through compensated dating.

This story — which sounds a lot like, well, prostitution — is especially troubling because the girls are so young. But, assuming that a woman is of age and that everything is consensual, do you see anything wrong with women using dates, and potentially sex, as a means of income?