你身上的西装够名牌吗?

The friendship between Ms. Li and Mr. Buffett, unlikely as it seems, developed quite by chance, or, as Ms. Li puts it, thanks to "yuanfen," a Chinese concept of predestined chemistry between people. "It was heart-to-heart, this feeling between us," says Ms. Li, a compact woman with naturally wavy hair who tends to wear dark colors, amber-tinted eyeglasses and a string of pearls.
李桂莲和巴菲特是偶然建立起友情的，虽然这段友谊看起来有点让人难以想象。李桂莲说，这要感谢“缘分”，我们之间的这种感情是诚挚的。李桂莲个子不高，头发自然卷，穿着以深色为主，带着琥珀色眼镜和一串珍珠项链。

Two years ago, Mr. Buffett came to Dalian to attend the opening of a new factory for Iscar Metalworking Cos., one of Berkshire Hathaway's recent acquisitions. David Margalit, Dayang's global marketing director, had a friend who was an executive at Iscar. Spotting an opportunity, Mr. Margalit suggested that Mr. Buffett get fitted for a Trands suit while he was in town.
两年前，巴菲特来到大连参加伊斯卡尔金属制品公司一家新工厂的开幕仪式，这是伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司近期的一笔收购交易。大杨全球营销总监大卫·玛格里特的一位朋友在Iscar的管理层工作。玛格里特找了个机会，建议巴菲特试试创世的定制西装。

"Five minutes after I got into the hotel room these guys came bursting into the room and before I knew it, the two of them were sticking measuring tape around my thigh. It seemed a little personal to me," Mr. Buffett says. "But they sent them to me and I never had to have an eighth of an inch changed."
巴菲特说，我进了酒店才五分钟，有两人就冲进我的房间。我还没明白过味儿来，他们就开始把量尺绕到我的大腿上。对我来说，这有点儿过于亲密了。不过他们把衣服送来后，我没觉得有一丁点儿不合身。

Mr. Buffett admits his knowledge of men's clothing isn't equal to his investing prowess. "I'm not enthused about buying clothes. They don't interest me," he says. "But this is a perfect solution. I feel good about these suits. And not just because they are free."
巴菲特承认，他对男装的了解不及他在投资上的技能。他说，我并不热衷买衣服，我对此不感兴趣。不过这是一个完美的解决方案。我喜欢这些衣服，当然不只因为它们是免费的。

Ms. Li's rags-to-rag-trade tale of riches appeals to Mr. Buffett. Born to a peasant family, Ms. Li grew up in a brick shack with geese in the front yard in the small town of Yangshufang, an hour's drive from the coastal city of Dalian in Liaoning Province. She started tilling the fields at the age of 18 and quickly rose through the ranks of farmers, becoming the Communist Party secretary of her 2,000-member production brigade.
李桂莲“从穷人到服装大亨”的致富故事吸引了巴菲特。她出生于农民家庭，在距离辽宁省大连市一小时车程的杨树房镇长大，小时候住在破砖房里，家里的前院还养着鹅。她从18岁起就开始种地，很快就从农民中崭露头角，成为有着2,000人的生产大队的党支部书记。

She started Dayang Group in 1979 as a collective township enterprise with a 30,000 yuan (3,394) loan, setting up an assembly line with 85 employees and several dozen sewing machines contributed from the homes of her neighbors. The factory started out making the kinds of simple items used by rural folk like Ms. Li: tablecloths, aprons and sleeve protectors.
1979年，她贷款人民币3万元（合3,394美元）创建了集体所有制乡镇企业大杨集团，建起了一条组装线，有85名员工和街坊邻里贡献的几十台缝纫机。工厂开始时生产和李桂莲一样的农村人使用的简单物件，比如桌布、围裙和套袖。

"Our skills were very low, but our goals were very high," says Ms. Li, punctuating the air with her hands, her fingernails decorated with pink rose decals. The company moved on to making simple workers' jackets, slowly introducing more complicated garments and signing up overseas customers along the way.
李桂莲说，我们的技能很低，不过目标很高。一边说着，一边用手在空中一挥，指甲上还画了粉红玫瑰图案。随后，公司开始生产简单的工作服，慢慢地推出更复杂的服装，同时与海外客户签订协议。

In 1995, Dayang launched its own flagship brand of Trands menswear. Dayang now employs 15,000 people and turns out 10 million garments a year.
1995年，大杨推出了自有旗舰品牌“创世”男装。大杨现在有1.5万名员工，每年生产1,000万件服装。

Mr. Buffett quickly took to Ms. Li and her suits. In a letter to Ms. Li dated Nov. 27, 2007, he wrote: "Yesterday I received the two suits from David. They fit perfectly and look magnificent. I've never had any that I like better."
巴菲特很快喜欢上了李桂莲和她的西装。他在给李桂莲的一封落款2007年11月27日的信中写道，昨天我从大卫那儿收到了两件西装。非常合身，看起来棒极了。我从来没有这么喜欢的西装。

They met again in May this year, after Mr. Buffett invited Ms. Li to attend Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders' meeting in Omaha, Neb.
今年5月份，巴菲特邀请李桂莲参加了伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司在内布拉斯加州奥马哈举行的年度股东大会。两人再度见面。

Later, four Berkshire directors were fitted for Trands suits, Mr. Buffett says: Mr. Gates; Mr. Munger; Walter Scott Jr., chairman of Level 3 Communications; and Ronald Olson, of law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson. Ms. Li, who doesn't speak English and likes to squeeze the arms or hands of whomever she's standing next to, says she hadn't expected such warmth from Mr. Buffett. She describes him as a "new friend".
巴菲特说，之后“创世”西装还为伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司的四位董事量身定制了西装，他们是比尔·盖茨、查尔斯·芒格、国际宽频网络基建及通讯公司董事长小斯科特和Munger, Tolles & Olson律师事务所的罗纳德·奥尔森。李桂莲不会说英语，她喜欢捏站在她旁边的人的胳膊或手。她说，她没有料到会受到巴菲特如此热情的对待。她称他是一位“新朋友”。

Even after 14 years, Trands isn't particularly well known in China, at least not before Mr. Buffett began promoting it. Its 11 stores are concentrated in second-tier north China cities such as Dalian, Shenyang and Taiyuan, where its suits are expensive by Chinese standards. The cheapest cost around 6,000 yuan (880), and the most expensive, made from fine cashmere, are upwards of 20,000 yuan.
即使是在创立了14年之后，“创世”在中国也并不是很有名，至少在巴菲特开始给它作宣传之前是这样。“创世”的20家店集中在中国北方的二线城市，比如大连、沈阳和太原；照中国的标准衡量，“创世”的衣服很贵。最便宜的也要约人民币6,000元（合880美元），最贵的用上等羊绒制作的西服则要人民币两万元。

This week, the Trands promotional video of Mr. Buffett played in an endless loop on a giant screen at the entrance to the 20th annual China International Garment & Textile Fair.
在本周第20届大连国际服装节的入口处，一块大屏幕上反复放映着巴菲特给“创世”作宣传的视频。

"I now have nine suits all made in China. I threw away the rest of my suits," Mr. Buffett says, every three minutes or so.
巴菲特每隔3分钟左右就会说，我现在的9件西装都是中国制造的，我把其余的都扔掉了。