EYE SCOOP
Lavender Patten is one first lady who won’t be dressed by Oscar de la Renta. As Hong Kong preps for June 30 — the eve of the British colony’s return to China — locals there are wondering who will dress the wife of Christopher Patten, the departing British Governor of Hong Kong, and Betty Tung Chiu Hun-ping, the bride of Tung Chee-hwa, the incoming Chinese administrator.
Tung’s gown will be chosen for her by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council from a short list of local designers: Barney Cheng, Lu Lu Cheung, Walter Ma and Benny Yeung. Patten’s reportedly looking at a Cheng design.
The handing-over ceremony will include a sit-down dinner for 4,000 at a specially constructed convention center over Hong Kong Harbor and conclude when the Pattens and Prince Charles make their symbolic midnight departure aboard the royal yacht, Britannia.
