Diary: The Economist turns heads with a flimsy little number in red

It's about as far from the flaky world of the catwalk as Alan Greenspan is from the sartorial style of Gucci and YSL suits.

But it's The Economist, the title that famously had people walking about Singapore's central business district with knives in their back, and it's now set its sights on becoming a fashion bible. Vogue, beware.

Taking a leaf from the essential little back dress, The Economist has fashioned its own staple number, which - naturally - comes in red. Sheltered in a full-length suit bag, and surrounded by as much suspense as the coming of a new Anna Sui bag during New York's fashion week, The Economist sales team, including regional advertisement manager Rupert Harrow, hand delivered the creations to 20 fashion-famished offices in Singapore and Hong Kong.

So, what was it that had media and agency trend-setters falling over their Skechers to get their hands on a copy of The Economist? A special, 20-page report on fashion, of course, with the headline 'Know what's coming next'.

The stunt was The Economist's latest in a series of Red Card-developed campaigns aimed at putting the strengths of the title in the spotlight.

Previous initiatives included smartly-dressed executive types carrying briefcases with the words 'Ignorance kills' emblazoned along the side and a knife in their backs.

In a military-style manoeuvre in Singapore and Hong Kong last Friday, two sharply-dressed suits from The Economist's crack sales team simultaneously wheeled coat-racks of suit bags into major buildings of the cities' financial district.

Their pre-selected targets were about 200 top executives in more than 20 of the main creative and media agencies.

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