Your guide to Hong Kong's hottest up-and-coming fashion designers
Kylie Knott
"One-hundred per cent made in Hong Kong" is the philosophy of Aries Sin, founder of Modement. Much of her work strongly leans towards architectural structures. Her spring-summer 2014 collection "Emptiness", presented at Hong Kong Fashion Week, is inspired by the city's office workers. "They go to work like zombies, daydreaming all the time. But when they finish, they wake up, transformed into a party queen or king." Sin, 29, recently collaborated with singer/songwriter and actress Candy Lo for her spring-summer 2013 collection. She's positive about the local fashion scene. "It's more energetic and emerging designers are creating a more boutique look instead of turning to fast fashion or mass-produced looks."
the Shadow Movement line, featuring shades of black, white and grey, was inspired by the shadows of trees.
Exposure is everything when you're in the business of selling - and Mountain Yam, 29, is getting more than his fair share. Anyone who's seen the latest advertising campaign around town for beauty brand Fancl House would have seen models in Mountain Yam couture. His spring-summer 2014 collection for his diffusion line 112 mountainyam is all about Mother Nature. Yam's style integrates active sportswear elements with high-end fashion. "I like career women - they're independent and have their own views," he says, adding, "112 mountainyam is about connecting nature and modern elements."
bright, bold colour blocks, casual chic with lots of piping and fleece for autumn-winter 2013/14.
While Hong Kong's knitwear industry was booming in the 1970s and '80s, manufacturing has since headed across the border. But that hasn't stopped London College of Fashion graduate Seth Yeung from launching his namesake label. The 26-year-old says his mother was a major role model. "She worked in a knitwear factory and as a kid I often saw her knitting at home. I would sit next to her and learn how to knit and stitch. I'm a textile-driven designer. Intricate textures have become my signature." Yeung believes the city's fashion scene is evolving from high-society evening wear driven to more contemporary daywear. "The market is supporting more local designers - not just European designers - and the local standard has improved."
: experimental mix-and-match designs inspired by Buddhism's philosophy and the idea of purity and balance, Yeung's autumn-winter 2013/14 collection features abstract concepts worked into a graph using circles and squares.
Sandra Chau, 25, founded Flux (a combination of "fun" and "luxury") in 2011 and is winning fans with her sophisticated geometric forms. At this month's Fashion Week, she presented a collection inspired by bugs. "They look free and happy but are actually surrounded by Hong Kong's crowded buildings and have limited space to grow, much like people living here. I wanted to take them away to a happy place and the collection reflects this." The result is a happy resort feel with plenty of draping.
: fusing fun and art, these items from the pre-autumn collection feature bright turquoise blues and hand-embroidered lace flowers.
There's a reason why there's no picture of the three designers behind Chewthecud. They're deliberately keeping a low profile, though that's proving difficult now that the label is doing so well. They call their latest collection "Number Seven".
"It's our seventh collection and seven is our lucky number, so we wanted to celebrate it. We used lots of sequins and graphic prints to make it fun and funky without neglecting its wearability and commercial value," says Casey Ng, one-third of the design trio along with Angela Ng and Zoe Li.
: the autumn-winter 2013/14 collection, called "Untitled" so customers can form their own impressions of it, features textured and printed fabric mixed with stiff neoprene and mesh in mostly blue. Shapes are oversized and unisex.
: Magenta, shop F-10, 1/F, Fashion Walk, 19 Great George Street, Causeway Bay