Rolling in it: luxury-loving Hong Kong boasts the highest number of Rolls-Royces in the world with one car alone costing US$12 million

• Rolls-Royces are common in Hong Kong and a new bespoke creation in collaboration with a Dutch fashion designer is out now
• From hotels with fleets of the world's most instantly recognisable car to moguls with cash to splash, the city loves to travel in style

While the pandemic took much of the shine off the Hong Kong luxury market, the city still has deep pockets when it comes to spending on designer goods, expensive real-estate, luxury watches and jewellery.

Those pockets are expected to deepen with revenue in the luxury goods market - currently standing at US$14.44 billion for 2023 - expected to grow 2 per cent annually over the next few years.

The city's ferocious appetite for luxury also extends to cars, with the city reportedly having the highest per-capita number of Rolls-Royces in the world.

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Hong Kong tycoon Stephen Hung, star of the Netflix series Bling Empire: New York, once made headlines when he ordered 30 customised Rolls-Royce Phantoms for US$20 million, the largest single order in the British luxury car-maker's history.

© Provided by South China Morning Post The latest Rolls-Royce is a bespoke one-off creation in collaboration with Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen. Photo: Rolls-Royce

The five-star Peninsula Hotel in Kowloon also boasts an impressive fleet of bespoke Rolls-Royces, the sedans finished in its signature Peninsula Brewster Green.

The cars can also claim some cinema cred, with "cameos" in the 1974 James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun starring Roger Moore as 007.

The scene sees Bond's assistant operative, Mary Goodnight, portrayed by Swedish actress Britt Ekland, stating: "Everyone knows all the green Rolls-Royces belong to The Peninsula."

Earlier this year, one of the biggest mysteries in the luxury car industry was solved when it was revealed who owned the Rolls-Royce Sweptail, which at the time of its 2017 launch was the world's most expensive custom-made car which reportedly sold for US$12 million.

© Provided by South China Morning Post The new model even has its own scent, and a one-off haute couture garment to match the car. Photo: Rolls-Royce

The lucky owner of the one-off car, which took four years to build, is Hong Kong's Sam Li, the son of billionaire real-estate mogul Samuel Tak Lee, whose property empire stretches from Hong Kong and London to Geneva. Forbes estimates Lee's worth at US$3.6 billion.

The former director of design at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Giles Taylor, once described the Sweptail as "the automotive equivalent of haute couture".

This month, Rolls-Royce unveiled the Phantom Syntopia, a bespoke one-off creation in collaboration with Dutch fashion designer, Iris van Herpen.

Fashionistas will love its luxe touches which include a bespoke scent, while van Herpen will design a one-off haute couture garment to match the car.

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