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Vivien Zhang and husband Anthony Chao have silk showrooms around the world. They sell fine leather and silk goods at Vivien Z in Carmel. 70 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 Photo: Kelli Uldall A t Carmel's Vivien Z showroom, exqui- sitely hand-crafted bags are nestled in gorgeous displays along with fine silk goods. Owners Anthony Chao and Vivien Zhang, both interior designers with clients around the world, moved to Carmel with young son Bernard to enjoy a quieter pace of life. Anthony spent decades in the silk business, while wife Vivien learned the trade of creating wallets, business card holders and purses. An international supplier of the finest silks to designers and celebrity clients, Anthony was frustrated with the quality of bags to hold his beloved Leica. Years back, he turned to Vivien to create a custom leather bag for his camera. She succeeded and kept going. "We met with a French company who pro- duces beautiful leather that supplies to top fash- ion houses, and we hired a computer expert to design tools to punch holes in the leather," Anthony recalls. "Vivien hand sews each bag." Anthony operates luxury silk showrooms in New York, Los Angeles, Shanghai and Hong Kong; the Carmel store is the first he has opened to the public. "After years of living in busy places, we wanted to live in Carmel," he says. "It's an artistic city with lots of galleries and is nice and quiet. Locals like to help each other. This is basically our hobby and we wanted to share it with the public." Vivien Z is located at 7th and San Carlos in Carmel. For more information, call 831/250-5792. Traveling the Silk Road from Shanghai to Carmel B Y B R E T T W I L B U R SHORTCUTS BUSINESS