Frosting on the cake

Hot mango tart. Photo provided to China Daily

Marie Antoinette probably never uttered the phrase so often attributed to her: Let them eat cake.

But Bonnae Gokson, the Hong Kong maven of style behind the restaurant Sevva and custom cake shop Ms B's Cakery, has no trouble embracing both the redoubtable empress and the literal meaning of her words.

"I tried to image what Marie Antoinette would be like if she were a cake," says Gokson with a chuckle during afternoon tea at a Louis Vuitton exhibition in Beijing. The result of her musing: a bracelet-like base studded with macaroons in the bright pastel colors of a merry-go-round. On top is a flourish of cotton-candy, a coiffure worthy of a French queen, a Texas socialite or even the matron of The Simpsons－if Marge ever went pink.

Gokson is in town to create a three-week pop-up cafe, in conjunction with a digital exhibition showcasing the spring/summer 2015 collection of star designer Nicolas Ghesquiere.

"I'm honored to collaborate with such a world-famous fashion house that I have always respected," she says. The LV label clearly respects her as well; its executives know her iconic Hong Kong restaurant and bakery, as well as her earlier work directing Chanel's image and communications in Asia. She also made a reputation as the designer of the Joyce stores founded by her sister, Joyce Ma.

"Louis Vuitton is focused on fine craftsmanship－and so am I," she says of the collaboration. "They don't ask why you'd go to the trouble of making sugar butterflies by hand－they get it. They think the same way."